Travis King had crossed the border between the two Koreas with a group of tourists to escape a disciplinary commission, after being arrested for a drunken fight.
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The end of an unlikely story. The American soldier who fled to North Korea in 2023 pleaded guilty to desertion before a US court-martial as part of a deal on Friday, September 20. He was sentenced to one year in detention, his lawyer announced.
On July 18, 2023, Private Travis King crossed the border from South Korea to North Korea while mingling with a group of tourists visiting the demilitarized zone separating the two countries. He had previously spent more than a month in detention in South Korea after a drunken bar fight and an altercation with police.
He was due to return to the United States to face a disciplinary commission. But instead of returning to Fort Bliss, Texas, he walked out of the airport and joined a sightseeing tour in the Demilitarized Zone, then crossed the fortified border, where he was arrested by authorities from the communist North.
North Korea initially said Travis King had defected to escape “mistreatment and racial discrimination within the US military”before deporting him in September 2023. The soldier was picked up by the United States, where the army charged him with desertion, punishable by five years in prison, and a series of other crimes.
Travis King pleaded guilty to five (desertion, three counts of disobeying an officer and assaulting a noncommissioned officer) of the 14 charges, according to a plea agreement accepted Friday by a military judge, and was sentenced to one year in custody, a reduction to the lowest rank in the Army and forfeiture of pay and benefits. He had already served his time, with a mention of “good behavior,” and was released, the source said. The other charges were dropped.