US continues to seek safe return of American soldier in N. Korea: Kirby

The United States is seeking and will continue to seek the safe return of a US service member who crossed into North Korea last month, a White House official said Wednesday, dismissing the North's claim that the American soldier is seeking asylum in the reclusive country.

John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, insisted that North Korean claims cannot be trusted.

"I think anything that comes out of Pyongyang, you got to look at skeptically," the NSC official told a press briefing, hosted by the Washington Foreign Press Center.

North Korea claimed Wednesday that Pvt. Travis King has expressed a willingness to seek refuge in North Korea or in a third country,

King crossed the military demarcation line into the North while on a group tour to the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone on July 18.

"We don't tend to put a lot of stock in statements coming out of Pyongyang," Kirby told the press briefing.

"We still want to know where Private King is. We still want to know what condition he is being held in because our fears are certainly for the worst, and we have, sadly, had multiple good reasons to fear for his safety. ," he added.

Kirby said the US has made it clear to North Korea through many channels that it wants the US soldier back.

"But we don't have a lot of information right now about where he is or how he is," he said. "And it would be irresponsible for us to take at face value anything that comes out of Pyongyang." (Yonhap)