North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) broke weeks of silence on Travis King’s whereabouts on Tuesday night.
KCNA said the 23-year-old Army private sought “refuge” in North Korea because he wanted to escape “inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army.”
King was “disillusioned at the unequal American society,” KCNA alleged in the report.
A Defense Department official could not verify the allegations and said the U.S. remained “focused on his safe return.”
“The Department’s priority is to bring Private King home, and we are working through all available channels to achieve that outcome,” the official said.
King escaped into North Korea last month during a tour of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. The Army private was set to face charges back in the U.S. before he fled.
The Biden administration has been unable to verify his location or well-being with North Korea.
KCNA on Tuesday said King “illegally intruded” into the country.
U.S. officials have decided against designating King as a prisoner of war, which would open up more resources to bring him home.
Soo Kim, a former CIA analyst now with consultancy firm LMI, said KCNA’s allegations are “100% North Korean propaganda.”
Soo, however, told The Associated Press that the Army private’s “fate rests in North Korea’s hands.”
“Perhaps the regime will try to ‘bargain’ King’s life in exchange for financial concessions from the U.S.,” she said. “More than likely, negotiations won’t be easy, and terms will be dictated by Pyongyang.”
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
