Travis King, the American soldier who fled to North Korea about a month ago, has sought refuge there, the country’s state news agency claimed in a report.

King “harbored ill feelings against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported. He also “admitted that he illegally intruded” into North Korean territory when he crossed the border from South Korea at Panmunjom on July 18, it said.

King “expressed his willingness to seek refuge in the DPRK or a third country, saying that he was disillusioned at the unequal American society,” according to the report, using the abbreviation for the formal name of the country.

The U.S. Department of Defense “can’t verify the alleged comments,” spokesman Martin Meiners said, adding “we remain focused on his safe return.”

Before crossing at a truce village that straddles the two countries, King had been jailed for nearly two months in South Korea on assault charges and was scheduled to fly to Texas, where he faced expulsion from the Army.

Instead, he left the airport and joined a tour to the Joint Security Area in Panmunjom, where he ran across the border. North Korean military personnel took him into custody and he was driven off in a van.

King, a cavalry scout from Wisconsin, joined the Army in January 2021.