Detained US soldier Travis King entered North Korea because of “inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army”, the communist country’s state media has claimed.

He has also “expressed willingness” to seek refuge in North Korea after crossing the border last month, Pyongyang has said.

In its first comments on the story, state news agency KCNA said King partly decided to enter the country’s territory because he was “disillusioned at the unequal American society”.

King, 23, went into the North while on a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area (JSA) – the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas.

US officials have said they believe he crossed the border intentionally.

Last month, King’s sister said he was “not the type to get into trouble“.

His sister, Jaqueda Gates, told NBC News: “This is crazy. I was just talking to him, literally 48 hours ago (before the DMZ incident).

“My brother, he’s not the type to get into trouble like that. It all just sounds made up.”

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