Don't know if he'll get a Darwin Award, but certainly deserves a special mention. That said, there's some interesting background details to this I just looked up. Me thinks there may be more to this than just the cover story. Sounds like a defection to me, or some weird intel op gone astray.

'A senior defense official told Fox News that King had just finished about two months in a South Korean detention facility following a physical altercation with locals. After King was arrested and throughout the time he was held at the facility, he made comments that he did not want to come back to America, according to the official.'

https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-soldier-sprinted-north-korea-eyewitness-thought-tiktok-stunt