North Korea has stated it plans to deport a US soldier who crossed the border with South Korea earlier this yr.

Private Travis King crossed the border into the North whereas on a tour of the demilitarised zone (DMZ) that separates the secretive state from the South in July.

The 23-year-old serviceman had been resulting from fly again to the US every week earlier than he fled to North Korea.

He had been anticipating to face disciplinary motion over a confrontation with native police that landed him in Korean custody for one month and a half, in keeping with a South Korean authorities official.

But as an alternative of getting on a aircraft at Incheon, close to Seoul, to fly to Texas, Private King apparently slipped away and joined the non-public tour group on the DMZ – earlier than crossing the border with out permission.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) stated on Wednesday that North Korean authorities have completed their questioning of King.

It stated he confessed to illegally coming into the North as a result of he harboured “ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination” inside the US Army.

He was additionally “disillusioned about the unequal US society,” KCNA added.

The company didn’t say when authorities plan to expel King from the nation.

King is the primary American to be detained in North Korea for nearly 5 years.

Read extra:
The Americans who have gone to North Korea

Soldier was ‘not the sort to get into hassle’

Several US troopers stationed in South Korea have tried to abandon or defect to North Korea, however King’s expulsion got here comparatively rapidly in comparison with others who’ve spent years earlier than being launched from the reclusive state.

In July, King’s sister stated he was “not the type to get into trouble“.

Jaqueda Gates instructed NBC News: “This is crazy. I was just talking to him, literally 48 hours ago (before the DMZ incident).

“My brother, he is not the sort to get into hassle like that. It all simply sounds made up.”