*North Korea confirmed Wednesday that it will expel Travis King, the U.S. soldier who crossed the demarcation line during a civilian tour of a border area.
We reported previously that King, 32, intentionally “bolted” across the border days after his release from a South Korean prison on July 10, SandarRose.com reported.
According to NBC News, the state-run news agency KCNA said that King will be “expelled” at an unspecified time.
We reported previously via CNN that King’s whereabouts remain a mystery because North Korea has been silent about his defection.
CNN writes, “Court documents showed that Private King believed to be the first US soldier to cross into North Korea since 1982, had a history of assault, was facing disciplinary action over his conduct and was meant to go back to the US the day before the incident. An army official told CNN the private was set to be administratively separated from the US Army.”
“I just want my son back. Get my son home. Get my son home, and pray. Pray that he comes back,” King’s mother, Claudine Gates, previously told reporters.
Travis King’s uncle, Myron Gates, said King started acting recklessly when his 6-year-old cousin (Gates’s son) died in February.
“He’s still grieving, and that had a lot to do with what he did,” Gates told NBC News.
“When my son was on life support, and when my son passed away … Travis started [acting] reckless [and] crazy when he knew my son was about to die,”
Gate told the Daily Beast, “It seemed like he was breaking down. It affected Travis a lot. Because he couldn’t be here. He was in the Army, overseas.”
North Korea’s statement noted that King confessed that he “illegally intruded” into North Korean territory. He allegedly told officials about his “ill feelings over inhumane treatment” and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army, per NBC News.
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