Travis King is an American soldier who ran across the border from South to North Korea before being returned to the USA in July 2023.
He will plead guilty to desertion and four other charges, as the army has filed 14 charges against him.
“He will plead not guilty to the remaining offenses, which the Army will withdraw and dismiss,” his lawyer Franklin Rosenblatt stated.
Charges expected to be dismissed as part of the plea deal include possession of child pornography.
King’s plea and sentencing hearing will take place on 20 September at a military base in Fort Bliss, Texas.
Pvt King has been in the army since January 2021 and was in South Korea as part of the Pentagon’s unit rotation when he crossed into North Korea. Prior to that incident, he had served two months in detention in South Korea on charges that he had assaulted two people and kicked a police car.
He was released from custody on 10 July – eight days before he crossed the country’s border with Pyongyang.
He entered North Korea on foot in July while he was on a guided tour of the South Korean border village of Panmunjom, which he joined after absconding from an airport in Seoul, where he was supposed to have boarded a flight back to the U.S. to face possible disciplinary action from the U.S. Army for actions taken before his alleged desertion.
After he crossed into North Korea, North Korea said that he confessed to entering the country illegally and said it would be expelling him. He was sent across North Korea’s border into China, where he was transferred to U.S. custody in Sept. 2023 via Swedish officials.
The US has said it made no concessions to secure his release.
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