North Korea is preparing to expel US soldier Travis King, who illegally entered its territory in July from the South, the North’s Korean Central News Agency announced on Wednesday.
After completing its investigations, “the competent body of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, editorial note) decided to expel Travis King, a US Army soldier who illegally entered the territory of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, using the abbreviation for the official name of North Korea.” .
This American soldier who defected to North Korea in July had just spent two months in a South Korean prison.
The Korean Central News Agency said in August that Travis King sought to escape “mistreatment and racial discrimination in the US military” by crossing the border with the South, confirming that Pyongyang had arrested the soldier.
Travis King was scheduled to return to the United States after facing problems with the judicial system in South Korea, but he crossed the border with North Korea on July 18, and joined a group of tourists who were visiting the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.
A private second class, he was released from prison in South Korea after a bar fight and an altercation with police. He was expected to return to the United States to face disciplinary action.
The two Koreas have technically been at war since 1953, when it was an armistice rather than a peace treaty that ended the armed conflict.
There are many fortifications on the border, but the only thing separating the two countries is a concrete wall at the level of the joint security zone, which remains less difficult to cross despite the presence of soldiers.
