US soldier in North Korea had breakdown in June after death of cousin

US soldier who ‘defected’ to North Korea suffered mental breakdown last month after the death of his seven-year-old cousin – as eyewitnesses say they thought dash was a TikTok stunt

• Private 2nd Class Travis King, 23, lost his cousin to a rare genetic disorder several months before he sprinted into North Korea, a relative said
• He suffered a breakdown following the tragedy and became ‘reckless and crazy’, his uncle said
• Fears are growing for the young soldier as North Korea has still not produced him acknowledged the incident 

The US soldier who crossed into North Korea had been acting ‘reckless and crazy’ for several months following the tragic death of his seven-year-old cousin from a rare genetic disorder, a relative has revealed.

Private 2nd Class Travis King, 23, suffered a breakdown after King’Nazir Gates passed away in February 2023.

Before the border dash, King had also been jailed in South Korea for two months after attacking a man in a night club and damaging a police car. He was also facing disciplinary action from his Army superiors.

King’Nazir’s father, Carl Gates, who is the brother of Travis King’s mom, said it seemed like the soldier was ‘breaking down’ as his cousin’s condition deteriorated.

‘It affected Travis a lot because he couldn’t be here. He was in the Army, overseas,’ said Gates.

Travis King, who bolted into North Korea on Tuesday, had been acting ‘reckless and crazy’ for several months following the tragic death of his cousin, King’Nazir Gates, from a rare genetic disorder

King’Nazir’s father, Carl Gates, who is Travis King’s uncle, said: ‘The pain came from my son and it escalated to this’

‘When my son was on life support, and when my son passed away… Travis started [being] reckless [and] crazy when he knew my son was about to die,’ he told the Daily Beast.

‘I know it was related to what he did.’

King’Nazir suffered from an extremely rare disorder called SPTLC-2, which caused his muscles to deteriorate. The little boy went through extensive treatment for the condition, but he deteriorated rapidly several weeks before his death.

His family said he was ‘always in good spirits’ despite his illness and described him as an ‘animal lover’ and ‘outdoor lover’.

Gates said King ‘loved and cherished’ his cousin, adding: ‘Picture yourself being in the Army and your baby cousin from your favorite, my only child, he’s struggling and going through pain.

‘And he’s crying like a baby, and now you’re in the service and you can’t do nothing about it. And then you’re crying like a baby. The pain came from my son, and it escalated to this s***.’

Private 2nd Class Travis King, 23, suffered a breakdown after King’Nazir Gates (pictured) passed away in February 2023, the soldier’s uncle said

Fears were growing for King on Wednesday as North Korea was still yet to produce the soldier or acknowledge the incident

A sightseer on the border tour captured King in a photograph moments before he bolted into the secretive communist state.

King is seen wearing a black t-shirt and hat purchased from a gift shop at the demilitarized zone as he peers across the border into the secretive communist country.

Witnesses said he laughed hysterically as he made the mad dash after fleeing his military superiors and joining the tour.

The tourist who witnessed King’s crossing and took the photo of the soldier, Sarah Leslie from New Zealand, said she initially believed it was a stunt ‘for TikTok’.

Leslie and her father, tourists from New Zealand, were part of a group that left Tuesday morning from Seoul to visit the Demilitarized Zone that divides South and North Korea.

King was among the group of 43 tourists, although he was casually dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt and she had no idea at the time that he was a soldier, or in legal trouble.

A tourist who witnessed King’s stunt, Sarah Leslie from New Zealand, said she initially believed it was a stunt ‘for TikTok’

Leslie said her tour group went a step further than many by visiting the Joint Security Area in the village of Panmunjom, allowing tourists to effectively step on North Korean soil inside one of the buildings, which are jointly held.

To get on such a tour, she said, required submitting their passports and getting permits in advance.

The group left Seoul by bus in the early morning, and Leslie noticed that King was traveling alone and didn’t seem to talk to others on the tour. At one point, she said, he bought a DMZ hat from a gift shop.

The tour was nearing its end Tuesday afternoon — the group had just walked out of the building and were milling about taking photos — when she saw King running ‘really fast’.

‘I assumed initially he had a mate filming him in some kind of really stupid prank or stunt, like a TikTok, the most stupid thing you could do,’ Leslie said. ‘But then I heard one of the soldiers shout, ‘Get that guy.”

Leslie said the command was shouted by an American soldier, one of a group that patrols the area along with South Korean troops.

Former President Donald Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea on June 30, 2019 – the spot where King made his crossing

King crossed the border at Panmunjom, during a tour of the Joint Security Area of the Demilitarized Zone

But the soldiers didn’t have time to respond. She said that after running about 10 meters (30 feet) down a narrow passageway between the distinctive blue buildings, King was over the border and then disappeared from sight. It was all over in a few seconds.

Leslie said she didn’t see any people on the North Korean side. The tour group had been told earlier the North Koreans there had been lying low since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After King ran, she said, the soldiers hustled all the tourists into a building and then took them to an information center to give statements. She said many of the tourists, including her father, hadn’t seen King run but a soldier explained the events to them.

‘People couldn’t really quite believe what had happened,’ Leslie said. 

‘Quite a few were really shocked. Once we got on the bus and got out of there we were all kind of staring at each other.’

King’s mother, Claudine Gates, said last night she was ‘so proud’ of her son and added: ‘I just want him to come home, come back to America.’

Gates, from Racine, Wisconsin, said: ‘I can’t see Travis doing anything like that.’

The picture surfaced as it emerged King had a string of run-ins with police in South Korea for offences which included battering a man in a night club and damaging a police car.

Court documents reveal that months earlier, King had faced two assault allegations and was fined by a South Korean court for damaging a police car. 

King’s mother, Claudine Gates, just wants her son to return to their Wisconsin home (pictured)

At a Pentagon press conference Tuesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the U.S. service member was likely now in North Korean custody

The border between North Korea and South Korea is heavily guarded

Court records reveal King pleaded guilty to assault and destruction of public goods stemming from an October incident, and on February 8 the Seoul Western District Court fined him 5 million won ($4,000), according to a copy of the ruling reviewed by Reuters.

Two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the soldier had been due to face disciplinary action by the U.S. military. It’s not clear whether the disciplinary action was linked to his conviction over damaging the police vehicle.

The Seoul court said on September 25 last year King punched a man in the face at a club several times but the case was settled.

Two weeks later, on October 8, police officers responded to a report of another altercation involving King, and tried to question him. He continued with his ‘aggressive behavior’ without answering questions from police, according to the court document.

Police placed him in the backseat of their patrol car where he shouted expletives and insults against Koreans, the Korean army, and the Korean police, the ruling said. 

During his tirade, he kicked the vehicle’s door several times, causing about 584,000 won ($461) in damages, the ruling said.

The court said the defendant had admitted to the charges, had no previous criminal record, and paid 1 million won ($790) to fix the vehicle, citing reasons in favor of him in the sentencing.

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