North Korea will deport American soldier Travis King, who has been detained for 71 days after entering the country through its border with the South on July 18.
King, 23, crossed the border into the North after spending 48 days in a South Korean penitentiary institution for failing to pay a fine imposed in February for an incident with police in Seoul and, according to his statement, At the time Pyongyang, had requested asylum in the country.
King crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and entered North Korean territory taking advantage of his participation in a tourist visit to the Joint Security Area (JSA), in the heart of the border between the two Koreas.
The soldier was going to be repatriated as a disciplinary measure for his problems with the South Korean justice system when the incident occurred.
July 18.- American soldier Travis King arrested for entering North Korea without authorization during a visit to the militarized border that divides the two Koreas.
July 20.- US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirms that Washington has sent messages to Pyongyang about King’s arrest, but has not received a response.
July 21.- United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken reveals that he has asked China to use its influence over North Korea.
August 15.- A spokesperson for King’s family asks North Korean authorities to let the young man speak with his mother.
August 16.- The Pyongyang government affirms that Travis King had requested asylum. “He has confessed that he decided to come to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (the country’s official name) because he harbored discomfort over inhumane treatment and racial discrimination within the United States Army.”
.- Meanwhile, the US maintains that they have not been able to verify that their soldier wants to stay in North Korea.
.- King, 23, was going to be repatriated to the United States as a disciplinary measure after having spent 48 days in a prison workshop in South Korea for hitting a police vehicle, but he fled the Seoul airport where he was supposed to take the flight home.
August 18.- At the same time, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, meets at Camp David (Maryland) with his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, and the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, in a trilateral summit, in in which the three leaders seek to strengthen their military cooperation in the face of North Korea’s nuclear program and tensions with China.
