By EFE
28 Sep 2023, 2:40 PM EDT
WASHINGTON – American soldier Travis King arrived this Thursday at a military base in Texas after having been expelled the previous day from North Korea, a country he had entered irregularly in July across the border with the South.
According to a video broadcast by local television, King arrived early Thursday morning when it was still night at a military base in San Antonio, in the state of Texas.
King is scheduled to spend some time at a medical center that is part of that military base and where he will participate in a series of activities aimed at helping prisoners of war and hostages readjust to life in the United States and cope with any trauma or stress. post-traumatic.
King, 23, appears to be in good health and was “very happy” to be able to return to his family, senior US officials explained Wednesday.
Yesterday, Wednesday, the US Government reported that Travis had been deported to China from North Korea.
Specifically, with the mediation of Sweden, the North Korean regime expelled the American soldier and sent him to the Chinese border city of Dandong, where he was taken into US custody.
Subsequently, he was transferred to the city of Shenyang, also in China, from where he was taken by plane to the US military base in Osan, South Korea, and from there he made his way back to the United States.
King crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) between the two Koreas by surprise on July 18 and entered North Korean territory without permission, where he has been detained for 71 days.
The soldier, who was serving in South Korea, was going to be repatriated to the United States as a disciplinary measure for his problems with South Korean justice, but he escaped to North Korea where, according to Pyongyang, he requested asylum that has been denied.
Before fleeing to North Korea, King had spent 48 days in a South Korean penitentiary institution because he did not pay a fine imposed on him in February for an incident with police in Seoul in which he had kicked a police car. of that city.
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