North Korea will expel Travis King, an American soldier who entered the country in July after running across the heavily fortified demilitarized zone during a border visit with a tour group from South Korea.
In this photo taken in Seoul a man walks past a television showing a news broadcast featuring a ... [+]
North Korean state media said King will be expelled for “illegally entering” the country, NK News reported.
The decision follows an investigation by Pyongyang into the trespassing and King’s confession that he acted illegally, the report said.
The state agency added that King entered North Korea “due to antipathy against the inhumane abuse in the U.S. military, antipathy to racism and disillusionment with the inequality in American society.”
It is unclear when King will be expelled or where he will be sent to after.
King crossed into North Korea in July while visiting the Panmunjom Joint Security Area with a tour group. At the time, U.S. officials said King had crossed into North Korea of his own free will and did so while dressed as a civilian. The U.S. Army Private had been deployed to South Korea as part of a regular rotation in 2022. However, King ran into trouble with authorities after getting into an altercation with locals, which led to his arrest. King pleaded guilty to assault and destruction of public goods and was held for 47 days in a South Korean detention center before being released in July. After his release, the military ordered him to fly back to Texas, where he was likely to face a dishonorable discharge, but King managed to flee from the airport and join a group of tourists on a trip to the border area.
North Korea to deport US soldier Travis King for ‘illegally entering’ country (NK News)
U.S. Soldier Crossed Into North Korea To Escape Racism In Army, Pyongyang Says (Forbes)