US Army Private Travis King landed at a military base in Texas early today after being expelled from North Korea, a US official has said.
The soldier, who had crossed the heavily militarised border from South Korea two months ago, arrived on a US military flight at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.
Television footage showed a group of people leaving a plane at the base at that time.
Private King is expected to undergo a medical review at Brooke Army Medical Center, a hospital at the base.
Basketball star Brittney Griner was treated there in December after a prisoner swap with Russia ended her ten months in Russian detention.
The US government said the soldier will undergo evaluation and then a reintegration process so he can be reunited with his family.
The 23-year-old ran into North Korea from the South on 18 July while on a civilian tour of the heavily fortified border and was immediately taken into custody.
It is unclear if Private King will face disciplinary action by the US Army, which has treated his case with care.
The army has not called him a deserter, even though he crossed the border without authorisation while on active duty.
For its part, North Korea appears to have treated his case as one of illegal immigration.
Its KCNA state news agency said Private King told officials that he entered North Korea illegally because he was "disillusioned about unequal US society".
The Swedish government, which represents US interests in North Korea because Washington has no diplomatic presence in the country, picked up the soldier in North Korea and brought him to China.
The State Department said the US ambassador to Beijing, Nicholas Burns, met Private King in Dandong, China, a city bordering North Korea.
He flew from there to Shenyang, China, then to Osan Air Force Base in South Korea, before continuing on to the United States.
Private King, who joined the US army in January 2021, faced two allegations of assault in South Korea.
He pleaded guilty to one charge and to destroying public property by damaging a police car during a profanity-laced tirade against Koreans, according to court documents.
He had been due to face more disciplinary measures when he arrived back in the US.
In July, the soldier had finished serving military detention and was at an airport awaiting military transport to his home unit in the US.
Instead, he left the airport and joined a tour of the border area, where he ran into North Korea despite attempts by South Korean and US guards to stop him.
