SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Wednesday that a U.S. soldier who stormed into the north across the heavily armed Korean border last month did so after expressing disillusionment with the inequality of American society.
Private 2nd Class Travis King entered North Korea while touring a Korean border village, becoming the first American to be detained in the North in nearly five years.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said King told investigators he had decided to enter North Korea because he harbored “bad feelings about inhumane abuse and racial discrimination within the U.S. military.”
It says that King also expressed his willingness to seek refuge in North Korea or a third country, saying he was “disillusioned with the unequal American society”.
North Korea says investigations into King continue.
It is North Korea’s first official comment on King since his arrival in the north.
