North Korea Confirms Custody Of U.S. Soldier Travis King

A portrait of American soldier Travis King is displayed as his grandfather, Carl Gates, talks about his grandson on July 19, 2023, in Kenosha, Wis. North Korea asserted Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2023, that Gates, a U.S. soldier who bolted into the North across the heavily armed Korean border last month, did so after being disillusioned with the inequality of American society and racial discrimination in its Army. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

The U.S. army soldier who crossed the border in July had “expressed his willingness to seek refuge” in the covert nation, according to North Korea’s statement on Wednesday, grown weary of American civilization, the communist state said.

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Using the initials DPRK, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the state-run media outlet in North Korea, KCNA, had asserted in a statement released Wednesday local time that “Travis King admitted that he illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK.”

According to American officials, Pvt. Travis King, 23, was on deployment in South Korea and was detained for 47 days following a dispute with locals. He scheduled a tour of the Demilitarized Zone after being freed and fled across the border while on the trip on July 18th.

KCNA said King “confessed that he had decided to come over to the DPRK as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army.”

Lt. Col. Martin Meiners, a spokesman for the Department of Defense, said that American authorities were unable to quickly confirm King’s remarks.

“We remain focused on his safe return,” he said. “The Department’s priority is to bring Private King home, and that we are working through all available channels to achieve that outcome

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