Enlistee wants refuge from ‘mistreatment,’ racism: It Ain’t Much, but North Korea Confirms US Soldier Travis King is in the Country

*(CNN) — North Korea on Wednesday confirmed publicly for the first time that US Army Private Travis King crossed into its territory.

A statement from the country’s government-controlled Korean Central News Agency claimed King had expressed “his willingness to seek refugee” in North Korea or a third country.

It also claimed King confessed that he had decided to enter North Korea as “he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within

Army.”

The 23-year-old also expressed his willingness to seek refuge in North Korea or a third country, saying he “was disillusioned at the unequal American society,” the North Korean official news agency, KCN, said in a statement.

King had crossed the military demarcation line from South Korea into North Korea in July during a tour of the Joint Security Area.

KCNA added that he had admitted to “illegally” intruding into the territory of North Korea.

Source: Enlistee wants refuge from ‘mistreatment,’ racism: It Ain’t Much, but North Korea Confirms US Soldier Travis King is in the Country