North Korea has decided “to expel” US Army Private Travis King, who crossed into the North from South Korea during a tour of the joint security area in July, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday.
“The relevant organ of the DPRK decided to expel Travis King, a soldier of the U.S. Army who illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK, under the law of the Republic,” KCNA said. The report said the investigation into King “has been finished.”
It is unclear from KCNA’s report where, when and how King would be expelled.
King crossed the military demarcation line from South Korea into North Korea in July during a tour of the Joint Security Area inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ). King, a junior enlisted soldier assigned to US Forces Korea, had faced assault charges in South Korea and was due to return to Fort Bliss, Texas, and be removed from the military just one day before he crossed into North Korea, CNN previously reported.
Seriously, having a defected US soldier in North Korea is a huge PR and propaganda win, he must've been the dumbest pain in the ass to be not worth keeping.
I mean, he tried to defect to NK. We already know he's a dumbass.
It's basically a junta with a hereditary monarch, favored soldiers do well for themselves.
I guess he hoped his PR value would buy him some status.
There have been a few other US defectors to the DPRK, and iirc they weren't treated terribly. Though they did feel quite isolated culturally, I suppose you must anticipate that before you do something like that.