North Korea says soldier Travis King wants refuge from mistreatment, racism in US

SEOUL - North Korea has concluded that US soldier Travis King wants refuge there or elsewhere because of “inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination” in the US and the military, the state media said on Wednesday.

It was the country’s first public acknowledgement of

Private King crossing from South Korea

on July 18 during a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area on the heavily fortified border between the neighbours.

US officials have said they believe Pte King, 23, crossed the border intentionally and have declined so far to classify him as a prisoner of war (POW).

North Korean investigators have also concluded that he ran across deliberately and illegally, with the intent to stay in North Korea or in a third country, state news agency KCNA said.

“During the investigation, Travis King confessed that he had decided to come over to the DPRK as he harboured ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US Army,” KCNA reported.

DPRK, or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is the official name of North Korea.

“He also expressed his willingness to seek refugee status in the DPRK or a third country, saying that he was disillusioned by the unequal American society.”

Pte King was “kept under control by soldiers of the Korean People’s Army” after his crossing and the investigation was still active, the agency added.

In August, Pte King’s uncle, Mr Myron Gates, told ABC News that his nephew, who is black, was experiencing racism during his military deployment, and after he spent time in a South Korean jail, he did not sound like himself.

The KCNA report comes as North Korean officials cite racism and other social problems in America to push back against US criticism, including a United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss human rights in North Korea on Thursday.

‘Uncertain future’

US officials said Pyongyang has not provided substantive responses to their requests for information on Pte King.

The Pentagon said it could not verify Pte King’s comments as reported by KCNA and remains focused on his safe return. It did not address whether it had heard more details from North Korea.

Pte King’s mother is concerned about his safety and appealed to North Korea to treat him humanely, a spokesman for his family said.

“Ms Gates is aware of today’s ‘report’ from KCNA,” the spokesman, Mr Jonathan Franks, said in a statement, referring to Pte King’s mother. “DPRK authorities are responsible for Travis King’s well-being, and she continues to appeal to them to treat him humanely.”

It added that Pte King’s mother had been in touch with the army and appreciated a statement by the Defence Department that it remained focused on bringing him home.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokesman for the United Nations Command, which oversees the border village where Pte King crossed, said he did not have anything to add to the previous statements.

“Mentioning King’s willingness to seek refuge in North Korea or a third country shows that it’s still unclear where he wants to go,” said Dr Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

Mr Tae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat and now a South Korean lawmaker, said the state media’s description of Pte King as an “illegal intruder” rather than a voluntary defector, as well as its mention of a third country, could suggest that North Korea might not be willing to hold him for long.

“It raises the possibility for North Korea to send him to a third country, where US officials can pick up and bring him home if he wishes,” he said in a statement.

How to classify Pte King has been an open question for the US military.

Although he is an active-duty soldier and the US and North Korea technically remain at war, factors including his decision to cross into North Korea of his own free will, in civilian attire, appear to have disqualified him from POW status, US officials have said.

Pte King, who joined the US Army in January 2021, is a Cavalry Scout with the Korean Rotational Force, which is part of the US security commitment to South Korea.

But his posting was dogged by legal troubles. He faced two allegations of assault in South Korea, and eventually pleaded guilty to one instance of assault and destroying public property for damaging a police car during a profanity-laced tirade against Koreans, according to court documents.

He was due to face more disciplinary measures when he arrived back in the US.

Pte King had finished serving military detention and had been transported to the airport to return to his home unit in the US. Instead, he left the airport and joined a tour of the border area, where he ran across to North Korea despite attempts by South Korean and US guards to stop him. REUTERS