North Korea expelled Travis King, the American soldier who entered its territory illegally in July 2023. He was handed over “in the hands” of the United States.
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With our correspondent in Seoul, Nicolas Rocca
The terse dispatch from the North Korean press agency did not specify the next destination of the American soldier, entered North Korea on July 18. An American official indicated this Wednesday, September 27 that Travis King was “ in the hands of the United States “.
The man, who was one of the 28,500 American soldiers stationed in South Korea, had escaped the surveillance of the guards of the joint security zone to cross into North Korean territory. He took advantage of the guided tour of the area between the two Koreas to cross the border.
A decision which could have been motivated by his legal troubles. He had spent more than a month in detention in South Korea for beating a South Korean and damaging police vehicles. The soldier was expected in the United States to face further disciplinary proceedings when he chose to defect. But the North Korean regime’s propaganda explained its action by inhumane treatment and the racial discrimination he allegedly suffered within the American army.
In its only other dispatch on the subject in August, the North Korean news agency indicated that its disillusionment with “ the unequal American society » would have pushed Travis King to seek asylum in North Korea or in “ a third country “.
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