Pvt. Travis King, the American soldier who crossed into North Korea two months ago, is in U.S. custody, two U.S. officials said Wednesday.
SEOUL, South Korea --
King's expulsion almost certainly does not end his troubles or ensure the sort of celebratory homecoming that has accompanied the releases of other detained Americans. It was not clear what condition he was in. He is being taken to Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, according to another U.S. official. He is expected to arrive overnight. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military movements.
On Wednesday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported that authorities had finished their questioning of King. It said that he confessed to illegally entering the North because he harbored "ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination" within the U.S. Army and was "disillusioned about the unequal U.S. society."
"Ms. Gates will be forever grateful to the United States Army and all its interagency partners for a job well done," Jonathan Franks, spokesperson for Gates, said in a statement. "For the foreseeable future, the family asks for privacy and Ms. Gates does not intend to give any interviews." North Korea's decision to release King after 71 days appears relatively quick by the country's standards, especially considering the tensions between Washington and Pyongyang over the North's growing nuclear weapons and missile program and the United States' expanding military exercises with South Korea. Some had speculated that North Korea might treat King as a propaganda asset or bargaining chip.
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