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SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Wednesday that it will expel Travis King, the U.S. soldier who intentionally ran across the border into the isolated country this summer.
King, 23, bolted across the heavily armed border July 18 during a public tour of the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea.
A statement reported by the state-run news agency KCNA said that King will be “expelled” at an unspecified time. No details were given of the destination of the U.S. Army private, who had been based in South Korea.
The statement added that King had confessed he “illegally intruded” into North Korean territory because “he was disillusioned about inhumane treatment and racial discrimination” in the Army, as well as the “inequality existing within the American Society,” KCNA said.
The United States has not yet responded to these claims.
Before he crossed the border, King had not long been released from a South Korean prison and was being escorted by the military to Incheon International Airport near Seoul to possibly face further disciplinary action in the U.S.
King had violated part of the joint security agreement and was being escorted to the airport after having completed his punishment, a senior administration official said.
The official told NBC News that King instead joined a commercial tour group headed for the Joint Security Area, an area administered by the United Nations between the North and the South.
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