omersukrugoksu/Getty Images(NEW YORK) North Korea on Wednesday said the U.S. army private who crossed the border in July had "expressed his willingness to seek refuge" in the secretive country after becoming disillusioned with American society.
Pvt. Travis King, 23, had been deployed in South Korea and spent 47 days in a local jail after an altercation with locals, according to U.S. officials. After his release, he booked a tour of the Demilitarized Zone, during which he ran across the border.
North Korea responded early this month to questions about King, U.S. officials said at the time. The story published Tuesday in North Korea s state media appeared to mark the country s first public comments on King s presence and status.
Officials in North Korea said they ve been investigating how and why King had crossed into the country, the report said.
King is alleged to have told investigators he crossed the border because he "harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltrea
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Shattering its silence on the issue, North Korea on Wednesday asserted that US soldier Travis King intentionally crossed the inter-Korean border into its territory and expressed his intention to seek asylum. But the US Defense Department dismissed the report, referring to the claims as "alleged comments." North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency, primarily catering to international audiences,.