Seoul, IO – According to state media KCNA on Wednesday, Travis King, an American soldier who North Korea said admitted to unlawful entry and was “disillusioned about unequal U.S. society,” has been decided to be expelled from the nation. The decision was contained in the final results of an investigation into King’s July border crossing published by KCNA. Last month it reported interim findings that he wanted refuge in DPRK or elsewhere because of maltreatment and racial discrimination within the army.
According to KCNA, “King confessed that he illegally entered the DPRK’s territory as he harbored ill feelings against inhumane treatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. army and was disillusioned about the unequal U.S. society.” DPRK are the initials of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
King would be expelled in accordance with the legislation of the country, according to KCNA, although they did not say how, when, or where.
It was impossible to get in touch with the White House or the US State Department right away for comment. Requests for comment were not immediately answered by United Nations Command or U.S. Forces Korea.
On July 18, King, an army private, dashed across the heavily fortified border between the neighbors’ countries while on a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area.
Several U.S. soldiers stationed in South Korea have attempted to desert or defect to North Korea, but King’s expulsion was swift in comparison to others who had to wait years to leave the isolated nation.
No significant statement is anticipated, according to King’s family spokesperson Jonathan Franks. We require time.
Myron Gates, King’s uncle, told ABC News in August that his Black nephew had encountered racism while serving in the military and that he had lost his personality after spending time in a South Korean jail.
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King, who enlisted in the American army in January 2021, was accused of two assaults in South Korea. In a profanity-laced rant against Koreans, he damaged a police cruiser and pled guilty to one count of assault and damaging public property, according to court records. When he got back to the United States, he would have to deal with more punishment.
After completing his term of military imprisonment, King was taken by the American military to the airport so he could fly back to his home unit in the country. Instead, he left the airport and went on a tour of the border region, where he ran into people in spite of efforts by American and South Korean security personnel to stop him. (Hyonhee Shin)