The report is the first public comment by North Korea on the case of Travis King, who was heading back to Texas after a run-in with South Korean police when he snuck away to join a tourist trip to the Demilitarized Zone.

"During the investigation, Travis King confessed that he had decided to come over to the DPRK as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US Army," KCNA said.