The American soldier who walked into Democratic Individuals’s Republic of Korea final month did so intentionally, in search of refuge from “racial discrimination” within the US, the state information company KCNA stated on Wednesday.
“Throughout the investigation, Travis King confessed that he had determined to come back over to the DPRK as he harbored in poor health feeling towards inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination inside the US Military,” KCNA stated. “He additionally expressed his willingness to hunt refugee within the DPRK or a 3rd nation, saying that he was disillusioned on the unequal American society.”
King continues to be being investigated and stays in custody of the Korean Individuals’s Military, in accordance with the company. It was the primary official acknowledgment from Pyongyang that the American soldier had crossed over from South Korea on July 17.
The Pentagon informed Reuters it couldn’t confirm King’s feedback as reported by KCNA, and “stays targeted on his protected return.”
Washington and Pyongyang are nonetheless technically at conflict, because the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean Warfare was by no means adopted up by a peace treaty. King doesn’t seem to qualify as a prisoner of conflict, nonetheless, since he was wearing civilian clothes and apparently crossed the demilitarized zone of his personal free will.
Shortly after the incident, US officers leaked to the press that the 23-year-old African-American non-public was alleged to be flown again to Texas to face navy self-discipline, after two incidents of violence whereas stationed in South Korea.
In line with the officers, King had allegedly assaulted an area man at a membership per week previous to crossing the DMZ. Earlier this 12 months, the non-public had pleaded responsible to assault and destruction of public property and was fined 5 million received ($4,000), over an incident from October 2022. When South Korean police got here to arrest King for an “altercation,” he allegedly broken their patrol automotive and insulted each the officers and the Korean nation normally.
As a substitute of boarding the flight again to the US, nonetheless, King slipped away from the airport in civilian clothes, joined a tour group headed to Panmunjom and ran throughout to North Korea regardless of makes an attempt by US and South Korean guards to cease him.
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