Pyongyang has made its first official statement about US soldier Travis T. King crossing the border from South Korea to North Korea. North Korea’s state news agency, KCNA, reported Wednesday that North Korean investigators have concluded that the US soldier intentionally and illegally crossed the demarcation line to seek refuge in North Korea or a third country.
King is said to have spoken out during the investigation and explained why he wanted to go to North Korea. According to the news agency, King spoke of “inhumane abuse and racial discrimination within the US Army” and fled as a result. The unequal American society had disillusioned him.
King is the first American to be held in custody in North Korea in five years. A spokesman for the US Department of Defense said it could not verify his statements but was continuing to try to facilitate a safe return.
The US soldier crossed the demarcation line between South Korea and North Korea on July 18 during a private visit with a group of tourists. Actually, he should have already been on a plane back to the USA. Because King, 23, had previously served as a private in the First Armored Division in South Korea – but had already been in prison there for two months for assault.
He was supposed to be sent back to Fort Bliss, Texas, where further disciplinary action might have awaited him. But King didn’t get on the plane, instead he took the tour to the inter-Korean security zone, the Joint Security Area, and used it to illegally cross the border.
Korea’s demilitarized zone, almost 250 kilometers long and about four kilometers wide, is probably the most heavily guarded border in the world. The JSA is their only spot where guards from both sides face each other directly. On the South Korean side, it’s a tourist attraction that gives visitors the illusion that North Korea’s party dictatorship isn’t so sealed off from the rest of the world after all.