00:00 North Korea has said that a US soldier who had crossed into the country last month has
00:06 admitted to illegally entering the North.
00:09 This is the first public acknowledgement of the incident by North Korea.
00:14 Private Travis King has expressed a willingness to seek refuge in the North or a third country,
00:19 state media KCNA reported, saying that he was disillusioned at the unequal American
00:24 society.
00:25 According to state media reports, Pyongyang said that the US soldier confessed to crossing
00:30 into the North because of inhuman mall treatment and racial discrimination within the US Army.
00:36 The soldier had entered into the North on July 18 while on a civilian tour of the Demilitarized
00:41 Zone or the DMZ on the heavily fortified border between the North and South.
00:47 North Korea said its investigation into King would continue.
00:51 After a drunken pub brawl, an incident with police and a stay in a South Korean jail,
00:56 King was being taken to the airport to fly back to Texas when he broke free.
01:01 Instead of travelling to Fort Bliss for disciplinary hearings, King joined a DMZ sightseeing trip
01:07 and crossed over the border in mid-July.
01:10 He is the first US citizen in five years to be detained in North Korea.
01:14 Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Pentagon said that the US could not verify the comments
01:19 reported by North Korean state media at this moment.
01:23 The US Department of Defense said that it remains focused on King's safety and his return
01:27 to home.
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