US soldier 'happy' after being freed by North Korea

WASHINGTON, United States — US soldier Travis King has been freed by North Korea and is "happy" to be heading home on Wednesday, nearly three months after he ran across the border from the South, US officials said.

The 23-year-old's release comes after intense behind-the-scenes diplomacy and ends the prospect of a long stay in a country with a history of using detained Americans as bargaining chips.

North Korea's state news agency had made a surprise announcement just hours earlier that Pyongyang had decided to expel King, whom US officials said was in "good health."

King crossed the North Korean border to China with the help of Swedish diplomats, where he was handed over to the US ambassador and a senior miliary officer on Wednesday. He then flew out to a US miliary base.

"We can confirm that Private King was very happy to be on his way home," a senior US administration official told reporters. "He is very much looking forward to seeing his family."

After a drunken pub fight, an incident with police and a stay in South Korean jail, Private Second Class King was being taken to the airport in July to fly back to Texas.

But instead of travelling to Fort Bliss for disciplinary hearings, King snuck away, joined a Demilitarized Zone sightseeing trip and slipped over the border.

Last month, Pyongyang confirmed it was holding him, saying King had defected to North Korea to escape "mistreatment and racial discrimination in the US Army."

'Good place'

But after completing its investigation, Pyongyang has "decided to expel Travis King, a soldier of the US Army who illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK, under the law of the Republic," the Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday, using the North's formal acronym.

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