According to North Korean state media, the country has concluded that U.S. Army private Travis King crossed the South Korean border into the North due to “inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination.” The report marks North Korea’s first public acknowledgement of the crossing, nearly a month after it happened.
“During the investigation, Travis King confessed that he had decided to come over to [North Korea] as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army,” state news agency KCNA said. “He also expressed his willingness to seek refuge in [North Korea] or a third country, saying that he was disillusioned at the unequal American society.”
KCNA added that King was “kept under control by soldiers of the Korean People’s Army” after his crossing. The investigation into the crossing was still active.
Earlier in August of 2023, King’s family told ABC News that King was experiencing racism during his military deployment. They added that after King spent nearly two months in a South Korean prison on assault charges, he did not sound like himself.
“When he first went to Korea, he was sending pictures home and he was just so happy,” Claudine Gates, King’s mother, told ABC News. “And then, as time went on, he just started fading away. I didn’t hear from him anymore.”
North Korea’s claim that Travis King was facing racial discrimination came a day before the United Nations Security Council was set to meet to discuss human rights abuses in North Korea. The U.S. called for the meeting.
For decades, Pyongyang has highlighted racial discrimination in the U.S. as what it says is an example of Washington’s hypocrisy. Analysts have said North Korea is likely to use King’s case to resist pressure over human rights.
