An American man detained by North Korea after allegedly entering the communist country has illegally sought asylum and wants to join its military, a news report said yesterday.
South Korea’s Dong-a Ilbo newspaper said the man crossed into North Korea from China on Monday.
It said an unidentified source in North Korea told the newspaper the 28-year-old man said he came to the country because he did not “want to become a cannon fodder in the capitalist military,” and “wants to serve in the North Korean military” instead.
The National Intelligence Service, South Korea’s top spy agency, said it could not confirm the report. The US embassy in Seoul said it had no such information.
On Thursday, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported an American was arrested on Monday for trespassing and his case was under investigation.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the North Koreans sent a bare-bones message through their representative at UN headquarters in New York.
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