North Korea to deport US soldier Travis King

Seoul, Sep 27 (EFE).- North Korea is to deport American soldier Travis King, who was detained after running across the border from South Korea in July, state media reported.

King, 23, crossed into the North from South Korea during a tour to the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone on July 18.

“The relevant organ of the DPRK decided to expel Travis King, a soldier of the US Army who illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK, under the law of the Republic,” KCNA said.

DPRK stands for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

It did not say when or how King would be deported.

KCNA added that according to the investigation, King said he had entered the country “as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US army and was disillusioned about the unequal US society.”

King had spent 48 days in a South Korean prison in May and June for failing to pay a fine for damaging a police car last year.

The soldier was going to be repatriated to the US and he missed his flight and the next day took the tour to the DMZ when the incident occurred.

A month later, Pyongyang confirmed King’s detention and said he had requested asylum in North Korea or a third country.

The US authorities indicated at the time that they had not been able to corroborate the information published by the North Korean media but that they were working to bring back King, whose health status is unknown. EFE

asb-mra/tw