Travis King case: American soldier who went to North Korea wanted to escape the army and the United States, Pyongyang said

The Travis King soap opera continues. The American soldier, who defected to North Korea in July, sought to escape “abuse and racial discrimination in the US military,” according to North Korean state news agency KCNA. “According to the investigation of the competent authority of the DPRK (DPRK – ed. note), Travis King admitted to illegally entering the territory of the DPRK,” the agency explains in Pyongyang’s first public statement. since the start of the King case.

Recall that this second-class American soldier had to return to the United States to face disciplinary action after he was released from prison in South Korea after a bar fight and an altercation with police. But he actually crossed the border north on July 18, mingling with a group of tourists visiting the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.

“Under control”

The agency said Travis King was “held under the control of Korean People’s Army soldiers when he deliberately invaded” North Korean territory. This confirms the detention of the soldier. King “would have expressed a desire to seek asylum in the DPRK or in a third country, stating that he is disappointed with the unequal American society,” he further assured the KCNA, specifying that the regime’s investigation is still ongoing.

On Thursday, August 3, the American command reported that Pyongyang was “responding” to inquiries regarding the soldier. The head of diplomacy, Anthony Blinken, who also confirmed that contact had been made with Pyongyang, said he had no information about the soldier’s whereabouts or health. The United Nations command, which is overseeing the truce that ended hostilities in the Korean War, said last month that it had begun talking to the North about Travis King.

Former CIA analyst Soo Kim told AFP that this first official North Korean comment about Private King is propaganda. “This is also an opportunity for the regime’s propaganda to make its own honey, turn the situation in such a way as to criticize the United States and express Pyongyang’s deep-seated hostility towards Washington,” the expert deciphers.

According to Vladimir Tikhonov, a professor of Korean studies at the University of Oslo, since Travis King is “black, I think he acquires a certain value for North Koreans” in terms of propaganda. “White racism and mistreatment of blacks is something North Korean propaganda has traditionally emphasized since the Korean War, so King can be used to reinforce that message. »