The US got soldier Pvt. Travis King back from North Korea in a 'complex operation' involving both friends and foes, White House reveals

• A US Army soldier who crossed into North Korea is back in American custody, the White House said.
• Pvt. Travis King was on a civilian tour of the DMZ in July when he sprinted across the border.

A US Army soldier who unexpectedly crossed into North Korea two months ago is now in American custody, senior Biden administration officials revealed on Wednesday.

North Korea said earlier that it would expel Pvt. Travis King, who sprinted across the border into the country on July 18 during a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area, a portion of the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement shortly after 11:30 EST Wednesday morning that US officials "secured the return" of King. A senior administration official confirmed that King has left Chinese airspace and is on his way to an unidentified US military base.

Senior administration officials detailed in a call with reporters the months-long effort to get King out of North Korea, which they said was a "complex operation" that involved multiple US government agencies and two external countries: Sweden, a partner nation, and China, with whom Washington maintains a frosty relationship. The officials said the process was initiated out of concern for King's wellbeing and a desire to reunite him with his family.

After King dashed across the border into North Korea and was subsequently detained by authorities there, the US began engaging in "intense diplomacy" and using multiple channels to urge North Korea to allow him to leave, an official said.

Officials said the US became aware through Sweden, which has helped broker talks with Pyongyang in the past, that North Korea wanted to release King earlier this month. At an unspecified date, they said, the American soldier was transferred out of North Korea and across the shared border with China, where the US received him and then began the process of transferring him home.

The "operational complexity" of the situation involved several factors, an official said, including the fact that the Swedish government had to transit into North Korea and the US needed to be ready to receive King in China. The US did not give any concessions to North Korea in exchange for King.

An official said the US is grateful to the Swedish government for its "diplomatic role in serving as the protecting power" for the US in North Korea, meaning it represents Washington there because there are no diplomatic ties between the two countries. The official also extended gratitude toward the Chinese government for help "facilitating the safe transit" of King, although Beijing did not play a mediator role.

The US remains "very open" to the possibility of diplomacy with North Korea, an official said, and that the transfer of King underscores the importance of keeping lines of communication open between the two countries.

Relations between Washington and Pyongyang, already extremely strained, have been tense in recent months as the White House has accused North Korea of engaging in secret arms negotiations with Russia to potentially help fuel its ongoing war in Ukraine.

King's situation is unusual. Before running across the border to North Korea in a shocking move, King had been held for several months in a South Korean prison over assault charges and was due to be sent back to a military base in Texas to face discipline. The US government declared him AWOL, which could lead to punishment.

King confessed to illegally entering the country because "he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US army and was disillusioned about the unequal US society," according to state-run media outlet Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which reported on Wednesday that Pyongyang had finished its investigation into King and decided to expel him.

US officials said King was "very happy" to be on his way home and "looking forward" to being reunited with his family. When he arrives on US soil, he'll be evaluated and guided through a reintegration process, while addressing medical and emotional concerns. "Administrative status questions" will follow King's reintegration, an official said.