Travis King: How the US negotiates with North Korea

A country with closed borders and few diplomatic channels... talking to North Korea is tricky at the best of times. The stakes were even higher when a young American soldier was in their hands. How could the US have gone about his release?

Private Travis King was released to US custody on Wednesday after being held for more than two months by North Korea.

He crossed illegally into the country on 18 July. Since then, his condition and the details of his confinement in North Korea have been unclear.

The incident posed a key challenge for the US, as it never had an official diplomatic relationship with North Korea.

As a result, the US relies on a network of backchannels to negotiate the return of citizens detained in the country. Sweden was involved with the Pvt King case, a spokesman for the Swedish embassy in the US has confirmed.

It is believed the 23-year-old soldier was detained and questioned by North Korean authorities.

Pvt King was last seen running across the demilitarised zone separating North and South Korea. Tensions then escalated in the region, with North Korea firing two ballistic missiles into the sea on 26 July after a US nuclear-powered submarine was stationed in the South.

"All sides are trying to understand what happened and what to do," said Mickey Bergman, executive director of the Richardson Center for Global Diplomacy.

Mr Bergman, who has spent nearly 20 years negotiating to return US citizens from hostile nations, said the best chance at releasing a prisoner is right after they are detained. This is when they are likely being interrogated by the country's officials but before they have been charged with a crime, like spying.

It was in that time before things became official that negotiators could best appeal to people's humanity, Mr Bergman said.

"I think there's a misconception about what negotiations are," he said.

"If we pound our chests, and flip tables, and demand that the evil North Koreans return our soldier, we are likely going to cause them to dig in."

Here is how the US has previously negotiated for an American citizen's return.

Because the United States has never officially held diplomatic ties with North Korea, during a detainee crisis, Sweden has served as an intermediary from their embassy in Pyongyang and has helped to relay communications to North Korean officials.

But there are also backchannels. North Korea maintains a mission at the United Nations in New York. In times of crisis, the mission - dubbed the New York Channel - has become an avenue for officials for both countries to hold talks.

For years, Robert King was one of the first people who received a call when an American was captured by North Korea. As the former special envoy for North Korean human rights at the US state department, the ambassador has helped negotiate for the release of multiple detainees including student Otto Warmbier and American missionary Kenneth Bae.

After 17 months in captivity, US college student Otto Warmbier was released from North Korean detention in 2017 in a comatose state. He returned to the United States with extensive brain damage and died days after reuniting with his family.

Otto Warmbier's death sparked international outrage and his family has levelled allegations of abuse and torture against the North Koreans.

After a brief period of diplomacy under the Trump administration, Mr King said renewed political tensions between the two countries often colour negotiations, making detainees a pawn in wider geopolitical fights.

"[The North Koreans] see this as, 'how do we use this opportunity to make the US look bad?' And whatever happens it's not going to be a happy outcome," Mr King said.

For nearly 20 years, Mr Bergman has worked alongside former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to secure the release of prisoners from countries hostile to the United States.

Although the Richardson Center is not involved in the Travis King case, Mr Bergman said in his experience, when it came to North Korea, there was no playbook for negotiations.

Instead, he said, it is best to approach tense negotiations through what he calls "fringe diplomacy".

US non-profit-making organisations and humanitarian agencies have provided aid to North Koreans for decades. When official channels stall, these non-governmental backchannels are often called upon to negotiate on behalf of a detainee's family.

An NGO's separation from the US government is a benefit, Mr Bergman said, because it allows negotiations to focus solely on the wellbeing and return of the detainee, instead of global politics.

"People can talk to us about policy issues but there's nothing we can do about that," he said. "We are much more able to insulate the issue and come up with pathways to resolve some of these situations."

Mr Bergman said the world often focuses on the moment of "intervention," when a political prisoner is rescued and returned home. But that moment, he said, is not possible without years of meaningful engagement.

"You have to build relationships so that when there is a crisis, you're not starting from scratch."

But the Covid pandemic has made both of these avenues of negotiation more challenging.

North Korea completely closed its borders during the pandemic and Mr Bergman said it is unclear if the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang has returned to full capacity.

Complicating matters further, after a brief period of attempted diplomacy, the Trump administration imposed a travel ban to North Korea, rendering US passports and visas invalid.

The ban has remained in place under the Biden administration and has effectively ended humanitarian avenues for engagement, Mr Bergman said.

"North Korea is the only country in the world where there's a travel ban, that it's illegal for Americans to travel," he said. "The North Koreans see that as an insult."

Mr Bergman, who was involved in the negotiations for Warmbier's release, said he believes the international blowback over Otto Warmbier's death has shifted the North Korean perspective on political detainees, and the country may be more amenable to compromise.

"After dealing with the Otto Warmbier negotiations, and the very tragic outcome, I believe that the North Koreans have chosen not play in the game of political prisoners anymore," he said.

Now that Pvt King has been released, what happens next remains to be seen.