This is the moment just before a US soldier on a tour group made a mad, chaotic dash into North Korea

• A photo shows the moment just before US Army soldier Travis King bolted into North Korea.
• King had joined in on a civilian tour in South Korea before he made a mad dash over the border into the communist country.

This photo shows the moments before US Army soldier Travis King made a frantic, mad dash across the border from South Korea into communist North Korea while on a tour of a border village on Tuesday.

The image, provided to the Associated Press and Reuters by witness Sarah Leslie, reportedly shows King wearing a black shirt and black cap as he walked among a group of tourists in the Joint Security Area of the Demilitarized Zone in the village of Panmunjom.

King — who's now thought to be in North Korean custody — "willfully and without authorization" crossed from South Korea over the heavily fortified border into North Korea, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said.

He was previously held in a South Korean prison for nearly two months over assault charges and was in the process of being brought back to the US before he joined in on the civilian tour and bolted into North Korea, US officials told the Associated Press.

Leslie told the news outlet she thought King's stunt was so "stupid" that it had to be a TikTok prank.

Leslie said when King made his move, she heard an American guard who was patrolling the area with South Korean troops shout out, "Get that guy!"

King reportedly laughed as he ran across the border.

"This man gives out a loud 'ha ha ha,' and just runs in between some buildings," a witness on the tour told CBS News.