North Korea will 'expel' US Army defector Travis King
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Army defector Travis King was confirmed to be back in US custody Wednesday — just hours after North Korea announced it would “expel” him.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed that “US officials have secured the return of Private Travis King” two months after the 23-year-old soldier suddenly dashed across the Korean border.
“We appreciate the dedication of the interagency team that has worked tirelessly out of concern for Private King’s wellbeing,” Sullivan said, singling out “the government of Sweden for its diplomatic role.”
The confirmation came just hours after North Korea announced it planned to boot the Wisconsin native, claiming he had confessed to illegally entering the Hermit Kingdom while under interrogation.
“The relevant organ of the [the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] 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,” it announcement read.
King was moved to China, where he was taken into US custody in a rare example of cooperation between the nations.
However, while helping transport King out of North Korea, China did not play a “mediating role” in the process, a US official told CNN.
By noon Wednesday, the door of the Wisconsin home of King’s mother, Claudine Gates’ Racine, had a sign that read “We’re not answering questions at this time! Please respect our privacy!”
The front porch was also decorated with an American flag – which was hung with the blue field on the viewer’s right side, which is technically a violation of US code.
“Ms. Gates will be forever grateful to the United States Army and all its interagency partners for a job well done,” family spokesperson Jonathan Franks wrote in a statement.
“For the foreseeable future, the family asks for privacy, and Ms. Gates does not intend to give any interviews.”
North Korea previously claimed that the young soldier — who was facing disciplinary action following a series of dust-ups in South Korea — defected because he was bitter over poor treatment and racism within the US forces.
King had been recently released from a South Korean prison and was set to fly back to the US when he slipped his military escort and was later caught on film at a tour of the Joint Security Area — the border village in the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas that is guarded by soldiers from both sides — on July 18.
“To our right, we hear a loud HA-HA-HA and one guy from OUR GROUP that has been with us all day runs in between two of the buildings and over to the other side!!” Swedish tourist Mikaela Johansson wrote of the moment the private second class — who was dressed in civilian clothes — dashed across the border into North Korea.
US officials later confirmed that King made a “deliberate decision” to cross into the infamously isolated Communist country.
A few weeks later, the Pentagon declined to grant the Wisconsin native prisoner of war status, but still insisted that he be “treated humanely in accordance with international law.”
North Korea finally confirmed that King was detained in the Hermit Kingdom in mid-August — and alleged that he fled there because he was “disillusioned at the unequal American society.”
At the time, the US military declined to verify the 23-year-old’s allegations of mistreatment and discrimination by Army higher-ups, CBS News reported.
King’s apparent attempt at defection was not his first brush with trouble: A few months before the bizarre bolt, he pleaded guilty to charges of assault and destruction of public property related to two violent incidents in Seoul in the fall of 2022 — including one in which he did $460 in damage to a police patrol car.
He was fined $3,950 by the Seoul Western District Court and was also facing disciplinary action from the US military.
King’s bewildered family said his recent behavior may be linked to the death of his 7-year-old cousin, who passed away last winter from a rare genetic disorder.
“When my son was on life support, and when my son passed away … Travis started [being] reckless [and] crazy when he knew my son was about to die,” King’s uncle, Carl Gates, told the Daily Beast.
The soldier’s mother insisted that her son was loyal to the US and deserved to come home.
“I’m so proud of him. I just want him to come home, come back to America,” Gates told ABC News.
There is currently a State Department travel ban on North Korea, which was put in place when American college student Otto Warmbier was detained by authorities during a tour of the country in 2015.
The University of Virginia student was released and returned to the US in a coma in 2017, and died shortly thereafter.
With Post wires
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