The soldier, Pvt. Travis T. King, was supposed to be on a plane to the United States, but instead he joined a group tour of the DMZ. Then he bolted for the border.
The man is the first known American to be held in North Korean custody since Bruce Byron Lowrance was detained for a month after illegally entering the country from China in 2018.
He faced off with North Korean troops, helped prepare for the Trump-Kim summit and witnessed some of the most hair-raising — and bizarre — moments on the world’s most heavily armed border.