North Korea Claims US Soldier Travis King Asked for Asylum After Fleeing Across Border

US Army soldier Pvt. Travis King, who fled into North Korea after crossing the border last month, is asking to seek asylum in the hermit nation, North Korean state media claims.

King has shown he’s willing to seek refuge there, South Korean news service Yonhap reported, citing the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The statement early Wednesday local time is the first public acknowledgement that King is in North Korea.

"Travis 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," KCNA reported. "He also expressed his willingness to seek refugee in the DPRK or a third country, saying that he was disillusioned at the unequal American society,"

U.S. officials said they can't confirm the alleged refuge statement from King.

"We cannot verify these alleged comments," a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday in the U.S.

"The department's priority is to bring Pvt. King home, and we are working through all available channels to achieve that outcome," the spokesperson added.

The United States has approximately 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea. King was part of a tour group along the demarcation line that separates the two Koreas when took off running from South Korea into North Korea.

“A U.S. Soldier on a JSA orientation tour willfully and without authorization crossed the Military Demarcation Line into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea [DPRK],” a defense official said last month. “We believe he is currently in DPRK custody and are working with our KPA [Korean People’s Army] counterparts to resolve this incident.” 

King was called “an embarrassment to the United States” by U.S. military officials who spoke to The Messenger last month, about the same time North Korea acknowledged it had detained the private.

“KPA [Korean People’s Army] has responded to the United Nations Command with regards to Private King,” Col. Isaac Taylor, a spokesperson for U.N. Command told The Messenger. “In order not to interfere with our efforts to get him home, we will not go into details at this time.” 

King, 23, was held two months in a South Korean jail before his release on July 10. He was scheduled to be sent back to Fort Bliss in Texas, where he could possibly face more disciplinary action and possible discharge from the military, before he booked his tour and sprinted into North Korea.

Shortly after King made his dash into North Korea, his family pleaded with the U.S. government to help bring him home.

"When he went to the Army to fight for America, America should fight for him, fight for him to come home," Myron Gates, King’s uncle, said 10 days after his escape into North Korea. "The days are getting longer, nights are worse. All I think about is what he can be doing."