Was the Tale of the US Army Private Who Defected to North Korea a Real Life “Ransom of Red Chief”?

“[North Korea] may have simply decided that Private King was more trouble than he was worth.”

“[North Korea] concluded that the longer he stays, the more of a burden he becomes.”

This past July, a US Army private, Travis King, crossed the border from South Korea to North Korea at Panmunjom. Two months later North Korea expelled him, returning him to US custody.

I certainly hope the terms were favorable, by which I mean I hope that the United States extracted some concessions from North Korea for taking King off their hands.

The whole story sounds like a 21st Century version of O. Henry’s 1910 short story, “The Ransom of Red Chief.”

If you don’t know that story, it’s about a couple of bumbling criminals who decided to kidnap the son a wealthy man. Once they lure the boy into captivity, they find that they’re in custody of a rowdy, motor-mouthed, little hellion, who was having the time of his life. To him it was all a great game, and he referred to himself as “Red Chief.” The father not only rejected the kidnappers’ $1,500 ransom demand, but the father’s counteroffer was for the kidnappers to pay $250 for the father to take the boy back off their hands, which the kidnappers ultimately did, just to be rid of the boy.

As for Private King, when he was first taken into North Korean custody, the political and chattering classes started chattering in their predictable manner:

“I worry about price to get soldier Travis King back from North Korea, Representative McCaul says” [ABC – 7/23/2023]

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul said Sunday that he's concerned North Korea will demand concessions from the United States in exchange for releasing American Travis King, the soldier who last week fled across the border from South Korea.

That needn’t have been a concern, as the North Koreans soon found out that the intelligence and propaganda value of King was zero.

American soldier’s release from detention was quick by North Korean standards [AP – 9/29/2023]

There had been speculation that North Korea would try to maximize the propaganda value of an active duty U.S. soldier who voluntarily crossed into its territory, reportedly because he was disillusioned with racism in the military and American society.

The North may have simply decided that King was more trouble than he was worth.

Analysts say the 23-year-old’s legal troubles could have limited his propaganda value. At the time he crossed the border in July, King was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, following his release from prison in South Korea on an assault conviction.

As a low-ranking serviceman, King was clearly not a meaningful source of U.S. military information. The North would have been unable to justify the costs of providing him food, accommodation, security guards and translators, especially when it was uncertain what it would get from the United States amid stalled diplomacy.

“North Korea is actually good at doing the math on these things,” said Moon Seong Mook, a retired South Korean brigadier general who participated in past military talks with the North.

“They concluded that the longer he stays, the more of a burden he becomes.”

As we well know from watching the US government deal with Iran, the Biden administration is eager to ladle out ransom money to evil regimes. Biden really, REALLY likes giving taxpayer dollars to evil madmen, yet reports are that Kim Jong Un got nothing in exchange for releasing King.

The North has often been accused of using American detainees as bargaining chips, but Biden administration officials said they made no concessions to secure King’s release.

We can only speculate if Private King was as awful a detainee as the fictional Red Chief, but he must have been a piece of work if the North Koreans considered zilch to be an attractive ransom offer.

At a minimum, I hope that we made North Korea re-imburse us for fuel and other related costs to unburden themselves of Private Red Chief.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

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