*(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.
