American soldier is released by N. Korea into US custody
Sweden acted as go-between for US, Pyongyang
SEOUL — Private Travis T. King, the American soldier who crossed into North Korea on July 18, was released into US custody Wednesday after weeks of diplomacy mediated by the Swedish government, US officials said.
King was to be reunited with his family in the United States and given physical and mental health support after being held by North Korea for 70 days.
“US officials have secured the return of Pvt. Travis King from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said in a statement.
King’s first stop after leaving North Korea was China, where US officials were waiting for him, according to senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the transfer.
King was then put on a plane and flown to a US military facility in South Korea, a US official said. The official said King would be immediately transferred to a military plane for a flight to a US medical facility in San Antonio, where he would undergo examinations. King is expected to arrive in Texas late Wednesday or early Thursday.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss flight details, said Swedish authorities had determined that King was healthy enough to be flown directly back to the United States without a medical examination at US military facilities in South Korea or Japan.
His release came after North Korean officials decided to expel him, saying that they had found him guilty of “illegally intruding” into their territory, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. The state news agency said King had confessed to illegally entering North Korea because, it said, he “harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US Army and was disillusioned about the unequal US society.”
A senior administration official said President Biden, who had been briefed on the efforts to secure King’s release, made no concessions to North Korea.
King, 23, had been assigned to South Korea as a member of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. After being released in July from a South Korean detention center, where he had spent time on assault charges, he was escorted by US military personnel to Incheon International Airport outside Seoul to board a plane to the United States, where he was expected to face additional disciplinary action.
He never boarded the plane. Instead, he fled to the North through the Demilitarized Zone, which separates North and South Korea, by taking a bus the next day to the border village of Panmunjom, which lies inside the DMZ and allows tourists to visit.
US officials offered few details of what they said was a “truly complex operation” to retrieve King from one of the world’s most isolated countries. They said the key was Sweden’s government, which serves as the socalled protecting power, or diplomatic go-between, for the United States in North Korea.
Officials said the United States had learned from Sweden several weeks ago that the North Koreans had decided to expel King in the near future. That kicked off a period of indirect but intense negotiations between the United States and North Korea, and direct discussions with China.
The US officials declined to say what disciplinary action, if any, would be taken after King returned to the United States.
His mother, Claudine Gates, was grateful to the United States and those who worked for her son’s release “for a job well done,” said her spokesperson, Jonathan Franks.