King admitted that he illegally intruded into the territory of North Korea and confessed that he had decided to seek refugee in North Korea or another third country as "he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US Army," the reports read.
The US Defense Department has said King entered North Korea on his own volition and without authorization.
“The Department’s priority is to bring Private King home, and that we are working through all available channels to achieve that outcome," a US defense official said as quoted by US media.
North Korea has been communicating on the matter through the UN Command.
King had received multiple disciplinary infractions from the military before fleeing to North Korea, including for assaulting a Korean national, according to US media reports. King was set to face further administrative action upon returning to the US, the reports said.
"(H)e had assaulted an individual in South Korea and had been in custody of the South Korean government and was going to come back to the United States to face the consequences in the Army. And I’m sure that he was grappling with that," Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said as quoted by US media.