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North Korea has decided to expel the American soldier who fled across the border into the authoritarian country two months ago, according to state media.
Following an investigation by North Korean officials, Pvt. Travis King confessed to illegally entering the country, state-run news outlet KCNA reported on Wednesday, adding that he expressed “ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination” within the U.S. Army and was “disillusioned about the unequal U.S. society.”
It was not possible to verify the statements attributed to King, which were reported only through KCNA.
Pyongyang has “decided to expel Travis King,” the outlet reported. The report did not say when they would move him or to where.
King, who in July was supposed to return to the U.S. after spending time in a South Korean prison for assault, opted instead to cross the heavily armed border into repressive North Korea while he was part of a tour group.
Shortly after the Army private’s actions, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth refused to ascribe a motivation but hinted that King was likely stressed about his situation.
“He is a young soldier, he was facing consequences. I imagine he had a lot of negative feelings,” she told an audience at the Aspen Security Forum in July. “He may not have been thinking clearly, frankly, but we just don’t know.”
It’s unclear why North Korea released King, but Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said the Defense Department was working to secure his release ever since he crossed the border.
“Our biggest concern about Pvt. King is that we want to bring him home and we are doing whatever we can through the interagency, from DOD and other partners, to find a way that we could bring him home,” she said in July.
