North Korea claims US soldier seeks asylum

By Compiled From Wire Service Dispatches With Analysis From Monitor Correspondents Around The World; Edited By Anne Shutt

August 30, 1982

Seoul

North Korea claims an American soldier, PFC Joseph White of St. Louis, Mo., is seeking political asylum there.

Earlier the North Korean Central News Agency, monitored in Tokyo, had said White crossed the demilitarized zone seeking refuge.

US Army Col. Richard Hyde, spokesman for the United Nations Command, said ''Based on information available to the UNC it is possible that the North Korean report is correct.''