2023-08-18 17:10:01
“He’s an American soldier and we want him back.” The spokesman for the White House Security Council, John Kirby, was clear this Wednesday the 16th in assuring that the United States remains firm in its intention to repatriate the American soldier who entered North Korea by surprise. However, what comes from Pyongyang goes in the opposite direction: the Kim Jong-un regime affirms that the soldier does not want to leave and that he has requested asylum in his country.
LOOK: The United States is still working to bring back the soldier who crossed the border into North Korea
King’s fate became a matter of concern to North Korea and the United States on July 18, when the 23-year-old soldier, who was deployed to South Korea, crossed the Military Demarcation Line and entered North Korea while He was on a tourist tour in the Joint Security Zone (JSA), in a border town between the two Koreas.
US media have reported that Travis King was due to be repatriated to the United States in July after spending 48 days in a South Korean prison workshop for hitting a police vehicle after being involved in a bar fight, but fled Seoul airport from where I was to take the flight home.
King is known to be a private second class with a patchy disciplinary record. He was scheduled to face disciplinary action in the United States following his misconduct in South Korea.
The UN reported in July that it had begun talks with Pyongyang on the case of King, the seventh soldier from the North American country known to have defected to the Asian country after the Korean War (1950-53).
In addition, the soldier is the first American detained in North Korea in almost five years.
US soldier Travis King, who defected from a demilitarized zone on the Korean Peninsula on July 18, 2023. (Facebook photo @TravisKing)
the north korean version
The United States had reported that King crossed the border into North Korea intentionally on July 18 and without authorization, but it was only on Tuesday the 15th that Pyongyang confirmed that the soldier was in his country.
After almost a month of silence, North Korea reported that it was “investigating” the soldier and stated that the young military man has requested asylum in the hermetic Asian state after feeling mistreated within the Army of his country.
“During the investigation, Travis King confessed that he had decided to come to the DPRK (People’s Republic of North Korea) because he resented the inhumane mistreatment and racial discrimination within the US military,” the KCNA news agency said.
King “came under the control of soldiers of the Korean People’s Army,” it added.
The statement ensures that the US soldier “expressed his desire to seek asylum” in North Korea “or in a third country”, noting his “disillusionment with the inequality in American society”.
After Pyongyang’s pronouncement, Washington indicated that it has not been able to corroborate this information, and affirmed that it is still working to bring the soldier back to his country.
“Anything that comes out of Pyongyang has to be taken with a grain of salt. It is Kim Jong-un we are talking about, so we do not give much credibility to the statements coming out of Pyongyang,” John Kirby told the press on Wednesday the 16th.
He emphasized that Joe Biden’s government still wants to know “where he is and under what conditions” the soldier is, as he fears for his safety.
The Pentagon had stated in late July that it had made no progress in contacts or possible negotiations with North Korea over the soldier, and that it did not know what condition he was in.
Currency of exchange?
The United States and South Korea have accused North Korea of using foreign detainees as bargaining chips in diplomatic disputes. The AP agency recalls that some of the people who have been detained in North Korea have said after their release that their guilty pleas while they were in North Korean territory were given under duress.
North Korea is a country of 25 million inhabitants shrouded in secrecy and led by Kim Jong-un. (Photo: AFP)
For the director of the Center for Asian Studies of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Carlos Aquino, it is clear that the current situation is favorable for North Korea, especially since the bilateral summit to be held in Washington by the leaders of Japan is about to begin. , South Korea and the United States.
“Obviously, the three leaders are going to talk about North Korea. It is no coincidence that just when this event is about to occur, North Korea confirms the presence of the soldier in its country. And not only that, the United States is assuming the presidency of the UN Security Council temporarily and it is going to deal with the issue of human rights and obviously it is going to criticize North Korea. It is a great opportunity for North Korea because just when the world is going to pay attention they put out a statement saying that they have that soldier on their territory and that he has escaped because he experiences discrimination and racism. This is already a propaganda tool for the Kim Jong-un regime, ”he tells El Comercio.
In addition, the annual joint Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises between South Korea and the United States will begin next Monday the 21st, criticized by the Kim Jong-un regime for considering them a rehearsal for an invasion of its territory.
Aquino recalls that this is not the first time that a US soldier or citizen has been detained by North Korea, since their release is sometimes conditioned by requests that US officials travel near that Asian country.
“It really is an advertisement for North Korea. From various points of view, North Korea is going to benefit greatly from this. It is assumed that North Korea was criticized for its human rights situation, but now Pyongyang comes out saying that the one that violates human rights and discriminates is the United States. Considering the upcoming military exercises, the fact that this soldier is in North Korea represents a unique opportunity for them, something is going to get out of the United States,” says the expert.
He adds that one positive thing in this case is that North Korea has said that King is looking to perhaps go to a third country, indicating that the North Korean regime may be open to allowing him to leave. “The question is how this is going to be achieved, although it will not be immediate. The important thing will be to see what North Korea demands in return, maybe some important figure will go to his country, that they pay him something, ”says Aquino.
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