North Korea decides to expel Travis King, the American soldier who crossed the border

North Korea announced today that it has decided to expel the American soldier from its territory Travis Kingwho remained detained after entering the country via the southern border last July.

“The relevant body of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, official name of the North) decided to expel Travis Kinga US Navy soldier who illegally entered the territory of the DPRK,” said state news agency KCNA in a dispatch seen by South Korean news agency Yonhap.

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Kingaged 23, crossed the border with the North after having spent 48 days in a penitentiary institution in South Korea because he did not pay the fine imposed in February for an incident with the police in Seoul and, as he said at the time Pyongyanghad requested asylum in the country.

In this photo taken in Seoul on August 16, 2023, a man walks past a television displaying a photo of American soldier Travis King. (Antonio WALLACE/AFP). (ANTHONY WALLACE/)

Pyongyang made the decision to expel King after completing an investigation into the case about which no details were provided.

The North Korean state agency also did not provide information on when or how the soldier’s expulsion will take place.

King crossed on July 18th Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and entered North Korean territory taking advantage of his participation in a tourist visit to the Joint Security Zone (JSA), in the heart of the border between the two Koreas.

The soldier would be repatriated as a disciplinary measure for his problems with the South Korean justice system. when the incident occurred.

A month later, the North Korean regime publicly acknowledged his detention after entering “illegally into the territory” of North Korea and ensured that The soldier expressed “his desire to seek asylum” there or in a third country.

The authorities of U.S They 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 Kingwhose health status is unknown.

Source: Elcomercio