Key Points
- American soldier Travis King crossed the border between North Korea and South Korea in 2023 after being held in detention for a period of time.
- He has reportedly faced disciplinary action in the United States.
- After pleading guilty to desertion in the US, he was allowed to walk free based on time served and good behavior.
A U.S. soldier who crossed the border into North Korea last year pleaded guilty to desertion as part of a plea agreement and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, his lawyer said.
According to the lawyer, the soldier was released because of his good behavior and the length of his sentence.
Travis King faced 14 charges stemming from his flight across the border from South Korea to the North in July 2023 during a sightseeing tour of the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean Peninsula, and from earlier incidents.
But he pleaded guilty to only five charges — desertion, assault on a non-commissioned officer and three counts of disobedience to an officer — as part of a deal accepted by a military judge on Friday.
“The judge sentenced Travis, under the terms of the plea agreement, to one year in prison, demotion to Private (E-1), forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge,” said a statement from King’s attorney, Franklin Rosenblatt.
“Since he has already served his sentence and has demonstrated good behavior, Travis is now free and will return home,” the statement said.
Travis King (onscreen) was scheduled to fly back to Texas to answer disciplinary questions after serving time in a South Korean prison, but instead flew to North Korea. Source: MONKEY / Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA
In a statement, the U.S. Army Office of Special Trial Counsel confirmed King’s guilty plea as part of a deal and said that “pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement, all other charges and specifications were dismissed.”
“Today’s court-martial is fair and just, and reflects the seriousness of the offenses committed by Private King,” District Attorney Allyson Montgomery said in the statement.
King joined the U.S. Army in January 2021 and served as a cavalry scout with the Korean Rotational Force, part of America’s decades-long security commitment to South Korea.
At the time of the incident, King was stationed in South Korea. After a drunken bar brawl and a stint in a South Korean jail, he was scheduled to fly back to Texas to answer disciplinary questions.
Instead, he left Seoul airport, went on a sightseeing tour of the DMZ and slipped across the fortified border, where he was detained by authorities from the communist North.
Pyongyang had said King had defected to North Korea to escape “mistreatment and racial discrimination in the US military”.
But after the investigation was completed, North Korea said: for illegally entering its territory.
“Travis King has faced significant challenges in his life, including a difficult upbringing, exposure to criminal environments and mental health issues,” Rosenblatt said.
“All these factors exacerbated the difficulties he encountered in the military.”
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