SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has concluded that U.S. soldier Travis King wants refuge there or elsewhere because of “inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination” in the U.S. and the military, state media said on Wednesday.
It was the North’s first public acknowledgement of the army private’s crossing from South Korea on July 18.
The North’s official state news agency KCNA posted on its website that during an investigation, “Travis King confessed that he had decided to come over to the DPRK as he harbored ill feeling against inhumane maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army.”
“He also expressed his willingness to seek refuge in the DPRK or a third country, saying that he felt disillusioned with the unequal American society.”
KCNA also said King was “kept under control by soldiers” in North Korea, and that the investigation they mentioned is still active.
U.S. officials believe King crossed the border intentionally – while on a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area between the two Koreas - and have declined so far to call him a prisoner of war.
The Pentagon said it could not verify the North’s version of King’s comments as KCNA had reported them and said it remains focused on his safe return.
King previously faced two allegations of assault in South Korea… pleading guilty to one of those allegations… as well as damaging a police car during a profanity-laced tirade against Koreans, according to court documents.
After finishing military detention in South Korea, King was taken to the airport to return to his home unit in the United States.
In August, King’s uncle, Myron Gates, told ABC News that his nephew, who is Black, was experiencing racism during his military deployment, and that after he spent time in a South Korean jail, he did not sound like himself.