2023-08-15 23:24:37
The US Army soldier who entered North Korea in July “admitted to entering it illegally”, North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said on Wednesday, citing an investigative report.
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“According to an investigation by a competent body of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, editor’s note), Travis King admitted to having entered the territory of the DPRK illegally,” KCNA reported, using the official name of North Korea. .
This is Pyongyang’s first public statement since the start of the King affair. This American soldier was supposed to return to the United States following having had trouble with the South Korean justice, but he actually crossed the border with the North on July 18 while mingling with a group of tourists who visited the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.
“During the investigation, Travis King said he decided to come to the DPRK because he abhorred the inhumane treatment and racial discrimination in the US military,” KCNA said.
Travis King “was kept under control by Korean People’s Army soldiers as he deliberately entered” a North Korean area, the agency added, confirming the military’s detention for the first time.
Mr. King “expressed his desire to seek refuge in the DPRK or in a third country, saying he was disillusioned with the unequal American society”, assured KCNA once more, specifying that an investigation by the regime was still in progress.
Private Travis King was released from prison in South Korea following a brawl in a bar and an altercation with the police. He was to return to the United States to face disciplinary action.
On Thursday August 3, the American command had indicated that Pyongyang was “responding” to requests concerning the soldier.
The head of diplomacy Antony Blinken, who had also confirmed that contact had been established with Pyongyang, had however said that he had no information concerning the whereregardings or the state of health of Travis King.
The two Koreas are technically still at war since 1953, because it was an armistice and not a peace treaty that ended the armed conflict.
Fortifications abound on the border, but only a concrete wall separates them at the level of the common security area (JSA), which remains less difficult to cross despite the presence of soldiers.
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