Russia, China or Texas? Where North Korea Might Send Troubled Pvt. Travis King After He’s Deported

North Korea has announced that it will expel U.S. Army Pvt. Travis King from its territory, but it hasn’t said when — or to where — it might deport the troubled soldier, raising the possibility King could be handed over to Russia or China, analysts said. 

When Pyongyang first acknowledged King was in North Korean custody, it said he had "expressed his willingness to seek refuge” in the north “or a third country."

King bolted across the border on July 18 during a civilian tour of the demilitarized zone after skipping a flight back home to Texas where he faced possible disciplinary action over a criminal conviction during his tour of duty in South Korea.

Nearly a month later, the North said he had defected “as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army.”

That might make Pyongyang reluctant to return King to American custody.

If North Korean officials want to make their handoff of the wayward private more difficult for the U.S., they could refuse to deport him back over the border to South Korea. If that’s the case, China and Russia are his two most likely destinations.

“I do not think it is likely that Beijing would hold up his repatriation,” John Delury, a professor at Yonsei University, told NK News last week. 

“Russia, needless to say, might be a different story.”

North Korea did not mention when or how it would expel him.

American civilians detained in North Korea have often left North Korea by air to Beijing, Yonhap News reported.

Merrill Newman, an American veteran of the Korean War detained in 2013 during a tour of North Korea, flew from Pyongyang to Beijing on the same day that North Korea announced his release.

Robert Park, who was detained in 2009 on charges of entering North Korea without permission, arrived in Beijing one day after Pyongyang announced his release.

But King is a member of the U.S. military, which might make a handover at the Panmunjom border post, where he first crossed the border, more likely--if North Korea decides to return him to American officials.

Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University and director of Korea Risk Group, told NK News that “shipping him to a third country, most likely — but not necessarily — China or Russia, is an ideal solution.”

King could make a life for himself in either country.

“Both Russia and China are far more liberal places than North Korea has ever been in the last 75 years,” Lankov said.

In an interview last month with The Associated Press, King’s mother, Claudine Gates, said her son had “so many reasons” to return home.

“I just can’t see him ever wanting to just stay in Korea when he has family in America,” she said.