US soldier who fled to North Korea sentenced to one year in confinement and dishonorable discharge

(CNN) — The US soldier who ran across the border from South to North Korea last year was sentenced Friday to one year in confinement and dishonorable discharge after pleading guilty to charges of desertion and assault.

Pvt. Travis King pleaded guilty at a court martial in Fort Bliss, Texas, to one count – or specification – of desertion, one count of assault on a noncommissioned officer and three counts of disobeying a superior commissioned officer, according to a statement from the US Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.

King was also reduced in rank to an E1, the lowest enlisted rank as well as forfeiture of pay and allowances. The time King spent in confinement after his apprehension will count toward his sentence, the Army said.

“With time already served and credit for good behavior, Travis is now free and will return home,” King’s attorneys said in a statement.

During the court martial, King explained his actions before a military judge and accepted responsibility for them, according to his attorneys. As part of the plea agreement, nine other charges were dismissed.

King had been facing 14 counts under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including desertion, possession of child pornography, assaulting a noncommissioned officer and disobeying a superior officer.

CNN first reported last month that King was expected to enter a guilty plea.

King’s attorney, Franklin Rosenblatt, said his client had faced “significant challenges” in his life, including a “difficult upbringing, exposure to criminal environments, and struggles with mental health.”

“All these factors have compounded the hardships he faced in the military,” Rosenblatt said.

King’s case was taken over by the Army’s Office of Special Trial Counsel in July, a spokesperson for the office, Michelle McCaskill, previously told CNN.

Military officials previously said that in July 2023 King “willfully and without authorization” crossed into North Korea shortly after he was released from a detention facility in South Korea. He was being held over an October 2022 incident in which he allegedly pushed and punched a victim in the face at a club in Seoul, according to court documents.

King, a cavalry scout, was supposed to board a flight to the United States where he was to face disciplinary procedures for the 2022 incident. He was escorted to a security checkpoint at the airport in Seoul and expected to return to the US. But instead of boarding the flight, King left the airport. One day later, King joined a tour of the Joint Security Area in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea from which he fled across the demarcation line and into Pyongyang’s custody.

North Korea claimed at the time that King “confessed that he illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK (North Korea) as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US Army and was disillusioned about the unequal US society.” CNN could not verify whether those were King’s own words.

Several months later, the US received word that North Korea wanted to return King. He was ultimately taken by a Swedish convoy to China, where he met the US ambassador to China and the US defense attache on his way back to the United States.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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