Travis King’s family says they have not heard from Biden White House

Family members of the US Army private who defected to North Korea last month say they have not heard from the White House, and wish the executive branch was doing more to ensure the young soldier’s release.

“We wish [the White House] would come to our house to talk to us, and let us know something,” US Army Pvt. Travis King’s uncle Myron Gates told CNN’s Laura Coates on Wednesday night.

Gates said the family has reached out to a number of elected officials, but has not heard any updates from the Biden administration since the 23-year-old Wisconsin native dashed across the border on July 18.

The White House was not immediately available to comment on Gates’ claim.

King’s bizarre disappearance is taking a serious toll on his loved ones, who are struggling to sleep while they wait for updates, King’s sister, Jaqueda Gates, told Coates.

“This is really, really hard on my mom, you know, that’s her baby boy,” she explained.

Her younger brother, who was last seen on a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area that has separated North and South Korea since 1953, is “not the type to just disappear,” Jaqueda added.

“So, that’s why I feel like the story is deeper than that. I don’t believe that you just do vanished and ran away,” she said.

Also on Wednesday, North Korean officials finally responded to the United Nations’ efforts to discuss King’s whereabouts.

“KPA has responded to the United Nations Command with regards to PV2 King,” the United Nations Command said in a statement, using acronyms for the North Korean army and King’s rank.

“In order not to interfere with our efforts to get him home, we will not go into details at this time,” the military force added.

Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said the Hermit Kingdom acknowledged the UN Command’s request for information, but did not actually provide any details about King’s condition.

King was scheduled to fly back to Fort Bliss, Texas, with a military escort last month when he slipped his handlers and was spotted wearing civilian clothes on a Joint Security Area tour.

He previously spent about two months at a South Korean detention center, US officials confirmed.

Prior to his unexplained defection, King also faced two assault allegations and was fined about $3,950 for damaging a South Korean police cruiser last October.

King also allegedly told his superiors that he did not intend to return to the US during a disciplinary scuffle last September.

In the weeks following his disappearance, the young soldier’s family members said he had been struggling with the loss of his 6-year-old cousin earlier this year.

“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,” uncle Carl Gates told the Daily Beast.

Other relatives have also called for the US to “fight for” King’s return due to his military service.

In his sit-down with CNN this week, Myron Gates said the family has heard from relatives of Otto Warmbier, the American college student who died just a few weeks after returning from a 17-month detention in North Korea.

“We’re gonna continue to fight for you and we ain’t gonna stop until you come home,” Gates insisted in a message to his nephew.