By Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea has decided to expel American soldier Travis King who it said has admitted to illegal intrusion into the country and was “disillusioned about unequal U.S. society,” state media KCNA said on Wednesday.
KCNA released the final results of an investigation into King’s border crossing in July, after saying in its interim findings that he wanted refuge in North Korea or elsewhere because of maltreatment and racial discrimination within the army.
“King confessed that he illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. army and was disillusioned about the unequal U.S. society,” KCNA said.
DPRK is the initials of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Authorities have decided to expel King under the country’s law, KCNA said, but did not specify how, when or to where he would be expelled.
The U.S. State Department and the White House could not be immediately reached for comment.
King, an army private, made a sudden dash into North Korea from the South on July 18 while on a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area on the heavily fortified border between the neighbours.
There have been several attempts by U.S. soldiers stationed in South Korea to desert or defect to North Korea, but King’s expulsion came relatively quickly compared to others who have spent years before being released from the reclusive country.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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