The U.S. Department of Defense reportedly said on Tuesday that the U.S. remains focused on ensuring the safe return of the servicemember who crossed the inter-Korean border into North Korea last month.

According to Reuters, a Pentagon source issued the position shortly after North Korea claimed that U.S. Army Private Travis King expressed his willingness to seek refuge in the North or a third country.

The source said that the U.S. cannot verify the King’s alleged comments, but the Pentagon’s priority is to bring him home and it is working through all available channels to achieve that outcome.

The remarks came after Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said the Army private intentionally intruded into the North while on a tour of the Joint Security Area on July 18 and he had admitted to illegally entering the country.

The KCNA also said that he confessed that he had decided to come over to the North as he “harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army.”

The U.S. has reportedly attempted to contact North Korea through the United Nations Command regarding King, but has yet to establish any meaningful communication.