The American soldier who bolted across the border into North Korea at the Joint Security Area (JSA) on Tuesday had a history of misdemeanors in the South, including physically assaulting an ROK national, damaging police cars and swearing at police officers while intoxicated, court documents seen by NK News showed on Wednesday.

The court records help fill out the profile of the 23-year-old U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) soldier Travis King, though much remains unclear about how and why he crossed into the DPRK.