The US soldier who defected to North Korea in July sought to escape “abuse and racial discrimination in the US military”announced on Wednesday August 16 the North Korean state agency KCNA, the first official confirmation of the detention of Travis King by Pyongyang.
“According to an investigation by a competent body of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, editor’s note), Travis King admitted to having entered the territory of the DPRK illegally”KCNA reported, using North Korea’s official name.
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“During the investigation, Travis King said he decided to come to the DPRK because he abhorred the inhumane treatment and racial discrimination in the US military”KCNA claimed.
An exile in the form of flight
This is Pyongyang’s first public statement since the start of the King affair. This American soldier was supposed to return to the United States after having had trouble with the South Korean justice, but he in fact crossed the border with the North on July 18 while mingling with a group of tourists who visited the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.
Travis King “was kept under control by Korean People’s Army soldiers as he entered deliberately” in a North Korean area, the agency added, confirming for the first time the detention of the soldier.
Tavis King is a “expressed his willingness to seek refuge in the DPRK or in a third country, saying he was disillusioned with the unequal American society”assured KCNA, adding that an investigation by the regime was still ongoing.
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Private Travis King was released from prison in South Korea after a brawl in a bar and an altercation with the police. He had to return to the United States to face disciplinary sanctions.
Discussions with Pyongyang
On Thursday August 3, the American command indicated that Pyongyang “answered” requests concerning the soldier. The United Nations Command, which oversees the armistice that ended the Korean War fighting, said last month it had started a conversation with the North about Travis King.
The head of diplomacy Antony Blinken, who had also confirmed that contact had been established with Pyongyang, had however said that he had no information concerning the location or the state of health of the soldier.
North Korea’s first official comment on Private King is pure propaganda, former CIA analyst Soo Kim, an expert in political practice at LMI Consulting, told AFP.
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“King’s stint in North Korea provided the Kim regime with a multi-entry opportunity, the first opening, of course, into possible negotiations with the United States for King’s release.”she said, pointing out that North Koreans were “tough negotiators”.
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“It is also an opportunity for the regime’s propaganda to make its honey, to spin the situation in a way that criticizes the United States and expresses Pyongyang’s deep-seated hostility towards Washington.”she added.
Racism, a traditional Korean tool of persuasion
Just before issuing its comments on Travis King, the KCNA issued a statement that criticized the discussion at the United Nations on the rights situation in North Korea, and called America a“empire of anti-people evils, totally depraved by all kinds of social evils”.
“Not content with being complicit in and encouraging racial discrimination, such as the gun crimes, child abuse and forced labor that plague its society, the United States has imposed on other countries unethical human rights standards and fomented internal unrest and confusion”is it written in the press release.
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According to Vladimir Tikhonov, professor of Korean studies at the University of Oslo, like Travis King “is black, I guess for North Koreans it takes on some value in terms of propaganda”.
“White racism and the mistreatment of black people is something North Korean propaganda has traditionally emphasized, all the way back to the Korean War, so King can be used to amplify that message.”the professor told AFP.
2023-08-16 08:52:12
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