American soldier Travis King in US custody after North Korea expulsion and 'happy' to be going home

The U.S. soldier who drew international attention when he fled into North Korea this summer is back in American hands and on his way to a U.S. military facility, according to the White House.

Pvt. Travis King, who bolted across one of the world's most heavily weaponized borders into the country in July, was first transferred out of North Korea into China with help from Sweden.

He appeared to be in “good health” and “good spirits,” according to senior administration officials who discussed the details of his transfer on condition of anonymity. King had already spoken with his family.

“We can confirm that Pvt. King was very happy to be on his way home,” an official told reporters Wednesday morning before National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan officially announced King’s return from North Korea in a statement.

Officials declined to say what potential punishment awaits King. They said the immediate focus is assessing his health and “making sure he has appropriate support” before he’s reunited with his family.

No concessions were made to North Korea for King’s release, the U.S. insisted.

“There were none. Full stop,” a senior administration official told reporters.

Earlier this month, the United States learned through Sweden that North Korea wanted to expel King, an official said.

With Sweden’s intermediary help and cooperation from China, King was transferred across North Korea’s border with China where U.S. officials met him.

North Korea said Wednesday it was expelling King after completing an investigation of him.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency claimed King confessed that "he illegally entered the territory of the Republic out of antipathy toward inhumane abuse and racial discrimination within the U.S. military, and disillusionment with the unequal American society."

U.S. soldier detained in North Korea: He got there on a tour bus

King ran into the North from South Korea during a tour of the joint security area that separates the two Koreas. It is one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world and divides the Korean Peninsula roughly in half along the cease-fire line between the two nations that has existed since the end of the Korean War in 1953. The Pentagon said in July that King crossed into the North "willfully and without authorization."

King, 23, has connections to Wisconsin. His mother lives in Racine.

Jonathan Franks, a spokesperson for King’s mother, said Claudine Gates will be “forever grateful to the United States Army and all its interagency partners for a job well done.”

“For the foreseeable future, the family asks for privacy, and Ms. Gates does not intend to give any interviews,” Franks said in a statement.

When he crossed into the North he was a cavalry scout with the 1st Armored Division who had just served a 47-day sentence in a South Korean prison for assault, after he allegedly kicked a South Korean squad car and demaged it, USA TODAY previously reported. He entered the North as he was about to be sent home to Fort Bliss, Texas, where he could have faced additional military discipline and discharge from the service.

US soldier detained in North Korea: Everything we know about Travis King

Previous Americans who have been detained in North Korea have not been treated well.

College student Otto Warmbier, for example, was released in a vegetative state in 2017 after spending 17 months in captivity. He died a short while later. His parents said he had been tortured and suffered brain damage. Three Americans detained in North Korea were freed in 2018 when Donald Trump was president.

North Korea is one of the most economically and politically isolated countries in the world. Its military has a variety of ballistic and cruise missiles that it has tested in recent years and threatened the U.S. with. It has also tested nuclear bombs. In recent weeks, North Korea has accused the U.S. of repeatedly violating its airspace.

Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have risen as Pyongyang has pushed ahead with tests of nuclear weapons-capable long-range ballistic missiles, and as its leader Kim Jong Un has appeared to court favor with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he visited in Russia this month. The White House believes that North Korea and Russia are close to completing a secret arms deal for Russia's war in Ukraine.

The successful retrieval of King shows the importance of keeping open the lines of communication even when ties are strained, a senior administration official said, and the U.S. is “ready for any further diplomacy that might be possible.”

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Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Travis King in US custody after North Korea expulsion