US soldier who fled to N. Korea released after guilty plea

US Army Private Travis King, who crossed into North Korea while deployed in the South, was released by a Texas court on Friday, his lawyer said.

He pleaded guilty to five of 14 charges — including desertion, assault on a noncommissioned officer, and three counts of disobeying an officer — and was sentenced to a year in confinement. However, the judge ruled that King could be released due to having served time in pre-trial detention.

"With time already served and credit for good behavior, Travis is now free and will return home," his lawyer said in a statement.

King also received "a dishonorable discharge," the statement said.

"Travis King has faced significant challenges throughout his life, including a difficult upbringing, exposure to criminal environments, and struggles with mental health," his lawyer said on Friday. "All these factors have compounded the hardships he faced in the military."

What did Travis King do?

King had been stationed in South Korea at the time of his desertion. He was arrested after a drunken bar fight and spent time in a South Korean jail.

In July 2023, he was taken to a Seoul airport to be flown back to Texas where he was to face a disciplinary hearing. However, King instead walked out of the airport and joined a tour group headed to the DMZ — the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.

King managed to cross the fortified border and was immediately detained by authorities in the North. Pyongyang initially described King's defection as an attempt to escape "mistreatment and racial discrimination in the US Army."

They later expelled the US soldier saying that he had illegally intruded into the country. He was brought back to the US and the Army charged him with 14 offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

After behind-the-scenes negotiations, King pled guilty to five charges in August 2024 and the US army dropped the other nine.

"The outcome of today's court-martial is a fair and just result that reflects the seriousness of the offenses committed by Private King," prosecutor Major Allyson Montgomery said in the statement.

mk/ab (Reuters, AFP)