North Korea confirms U.S. soldier's detention

South Korean soldiers stand guard at the Joint Security Area on the demilitarized zone in the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, Korea. [YONHAP]

North Korea acknowledged for the first time through its state media on Wednesday that it has detained 23-year-old U.S. Army Pvt. Travis King, who bolted into its territory last month.

According to the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency, King told North Korean officials he bolted across the inter-Korean border due inhumane treatment and racial discrimination he faced in the U.S. Army.

On July 18, at 3:30 p.m., while on a group tour of the truce village of Panmunjom inside the Joint Security Area (JSA), King made a dash into the North Korean side through the huts straddling the military demarcation line.

According to the KCNA, King told North Korean officials who investigated him after his border crossing that he had decided to defect to North Korea due to his grievances against the U.S. Army.

The KCNA said King had requested to stay in North Korea as a "refugee" or be sent to a third country, citing disillusionment with the unequal U.S. society.

Before entering North Korea, King faced military disciplinary action in the United States on assault charges. He was escorted by military police to Incheon International Airport, where he was supposed to board a flight to Fort Bliss, Texas, but he slipped out of the customs area after they saw him enter the security check.

The next day, he joined a group of tourists visiting the JSA located within the 160-mile-long demilitarized zone (DMZ) that divides the Korean Peninsula.

King became the first U.S. soldier to defect to North Korea since Joseph White in 1982. White was the seventh U.S. service member to defect to the North and the sixth to do so via the DMZ.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]