Global Courant
King sprinted into North Korea over the heavily fortified border between the Koreas more than two months ago.
The American soldier released from North Korea has returned to the United States.
Travis King sprinted into North Korea over the heavily fortified border between the Koreas more than two months ago. North Korea said Wednesday it has “decided to deport King” after completing an investigation into his entry into the country.
After completing its investigation, the “DPRK relevant body decided to deport Travis King, a US Army soldier who illegally entered the territory of the DPRK,” the Korean Central News Agency reported, using the formal name for North Korea was used.
King fled into North Korea in July while touring the southern side of an inter-Korean truce village. He spent almost two months in a South Korean prison for assault.
The soldier was released on July 10 and was scheduled to be sent to Fort Bliss, Texas, where he could have faced additional military discipline and discharge from the service.
He somehow managed to leave and instead took part in a tour of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on the inter-Korean border in the village of Panmunjom, where he sprinted across the border on July 18.
Panmunjom lies within the 248-kilometer (154-mile) DMZ that divides the Korean Peninsula.
The border between the two Koreas is heavily fortified, but in the Joint Security Area (JSA) the border is only marked by a low concrete dividing line and is relatively easy to cross, despite the presence of soldiers on both sides.
North Korea releases King to US
U.S. officials say North Korea has not received anything from the U.S. for his release.
“We have made no concessions as part of securing his return,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
On Wednesday, US officials thanked Sweden and China for facilitating King’s release, but stressed that the move does not represent a diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea.
In a rack Published on Wednesday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed that US officials had “secured the return” of the US soldier.
Previous cases of US prisoners in NK
Otto Warmbier was arrested for allegedly removing a political banner from a North Korean hotel and sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor. American Korean tour operator and missionary Kenneth Bae was arrested in November 2012 and released two years later after a secret mission to Pyongyang led by then US intelligence chief James Clapper. TV reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee were detained by North Korean guards while at the Chinese border in March 2009. Three months later, they were sentenced to twelve years of hard labor until their release was secured when former US President Bill Clinton flew to Pyongyang. Missionary Evan Hunziker was swimming naked and drunk across the Yalu River from China to North Korea in August 1996 when he was arrested and charged with espionage. He was released three months later after US Congressman Bill Richardson traveled to Pyongyang. Drunken American soldier Charles Robert Jenkins crossed north in 1965 while patrolling the DMZ in an attempt to avoid combat duty in Vietnam. Jenkins was held for decades until he was finally allowed to leave in 2004.
