Report: U.S. Army Private Released After Months Being Detained In North Korea

The North Korean government has reportedly released U.S. Army Pvt. Travis King back into U.S. custody after months of imprisonment in the totalitarian nation.

The Associated Press reported later that two Defense Department officials — speaking anonymously — confirmed that King had been turned over to U.S. custody in China.

“The relevant organ of the [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] 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,” state media outlet Korean Central News Agency wrote, according to translations provided by Yonhap News Agency.

King has been held by North Korean authorities since July 18, when he reportedly sprinted away from a tour group into the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. (RELATED: Senator Unveils Proposal To Avoid Government Shutdown)

The incident happened after King finished approximately two months in a South Korean detention facility following a physical altercation with locals, a senior defense official told Fox News on Tuesday. Throughout the time he was held at the facility, he made comments that he did not want to come back to America, according to a U.S. official.   

North Korea's state media reported that King confessed to crossing into the North because of “inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army.”

“During the investigation, Travis King confessed that he had decided to come over to the DPRK as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army,” KCNA reported. “He also expressed his willingness to seek refuge in the DPRK or a third country, saying that he was disillusioned at the unequal American society.”

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