In its first comments on the story, state news agency KCNA says Travis King decided to enter North Korean territory last month, partly because he was “disillusioned at the unequal American society”.
Detained US soldier Travis King entered North Korea because of “inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US Army”, the communist country’s state media has claimed.
He has also “expressed willingness” to seek refuge in North Korea after crossing the border last month, Pyongyang has said in its first comments on the story.
King was “disillusioned at the unequal American society”, KCNA claimed.
North Korean investigators have concluded that he crossed from South Korea deliberately and illegally, intending to stay in the North or in a third country, KCNA said.
King, 23, was reportedly facing disciplinary action by the US military when he crossed over while on a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area (JSA) – the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas.
He was also said to have been struggling with the death of his young cousin, according to US media reports.
He is the first American to be detained in North Korea for almost five years.
The US Pentagon said it could not verify King’s alleged comments.
“The department’s priority is to bring Private King home. We are working through all available channels to achieve that outcome,” a Pentagon spokesperson said.
King has been declared AWOL, according to US officials. The punishment for being absent without leave can include forfeiture of pay or dishonourable discharge.
US officials have also said they believe he crossed the border intentionally.
The Pentagon says it is focused on Travis King’s ‘safe return’
KCNA said in a statement: “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.
[1/2]U.S. Private Travis T. King (wearing a black shirt and black cap) is seen in this picture taken during a tour of the tightly controlled Joint Security Area (JSA) on the border between the two Koreas, at the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea, July 18, 2023. Sarah Leslie/Handout via REUTERSThe United States has declined so far to classify Army Private Travis King as a prisoner of war, despite his being taken into North Korean custody after he crossed into the country last month, four U.S. officials told Reuters.
The decision, which could mean King is not covered by the protections entitled to prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention, is highly sensitive for the U.S. military given its commitment to leave no soldier behind enemy lines.
How to classify the 23-year-old, who dashed across the heavily guarded border during a civilian tour of the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea, has been an open question for the military.
As an active-duty soldier he might appear to qualify as a POW, given that the United States and North Korea technically remain at war. The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
But factors including King’s decision to cross into North Korea of his own free will, in civilian attire, appear to have disqualified him from that status, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment on King’s POW status, but said the defense department’s priority was to bring him home and it was working to achieve that through all available channels.
“Private King must be treated humanely in accordance with international law,” the spokesperson said.
Washington has conveyed that message in private communications to Pyongyang, the U.S. officials said, adding that those communications have not invoked POW status.
The United States still has the option to call King a POW. A U.S. official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said there was no final decision and that the U.S. view on King’s status could evolve as it learns more about his case.
The State Department referred a request for comment to the Pentagon. White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
PROTECTIONS FOR CAPTIVES
Prisoners of war are protected by the Third Geneva Convention, to which North Korea and the U.S. are signatories. That agreement details standards for the treatment of captives, ensuring everything from sufficient medical care and Red Cross access, to the ability of prisoners to send messages to their families.
Rachel VanLandingham, a military law expert at Southwestern Law School, said King would benefit from being classified as a POW, even if that could be seen legally as a stretch.
“It provides a much clearer, very structured framework for exactly how they’re to treat him down to the number of cigarettes a day they’re required to give him if he asks,” she said.
It is not clear that labeling King a POW would change how the isolated North Korean government treats him. Pyongyang, which continues to develop nuclear weapons in violation of UN resolutions, has repeatedly shown it is not willing to be bound by international law.
In any case, said Geoffrey Corn, a military law expert at Texas Tech University School of Law, it would be difficult for the United States to assert that King is a prisoner of war – in part because there was no active fighting at the time on the peninsula.
“He wasn’t really captured in the context of hostilities. If that happened to us, we’d probably designate him as an undocumented alien who crossed the border without a visa,” Corn said.
King, who joined the U.S. Army in January 2021, had served as a Cavalry Scout with the Korean Rotational Force, part of the decades-old U.S. 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.
After serving time in detention in South Korea, King had been due to face military disciplinary action on his return to Fort Bliss, Texas.
