A U.S. soldier who fled to North Korea last year has been sentenced to 12 months in prison after pleading guilty to desertion as part of a plea deal, his lawyer said.
Because of his good behavior and time served, the soldier was released, attorney Franklin Rosenblatt said Friday.
Travis King faced 14 charges related to his escape from South Korea to North Korea last July while on a sightseeing tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the Korean Peninsula, and earlier incidents.
He pleaded guilty to five counts — desertion, assaulting a noncommissioned officer and three counts of disobeying an officer — as part of a deal that was accepted Friday by a military judge.
In July 2023, King was stationed in South Korea and was due to return to Texas to face disciplinary hearings following a bar fight and a stint in a South Korean prison.
Instead, he left the Seoul-area airport, joined a tour group in the DMZ and slipped across the fortified border, where he was arrested by northern communist authorities.
Pyongyang had said King defected to North Korea to escape “mistreatment and racial discrimination in the U.S. military.”
But after completing its investigation, North Korea “decided to expel” King in September for illegally entering its territory.
Attorney Rosenblatt said in Friday’s statement: “The judge, under the terms of the plea agreement, sentenced Travis to one year in custody, a reduction in rank to private (E-1), forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and an indignation discharge.
“With time already served and credit for good behavior, Travis is now free and will return home,” the statement said.
“Travis King faced significant challenges throughout his life, including a difficult upbringing, exposure to criminal environments and mental health issues,” Rosenblatt said. “All of these factors compounded the difficulties he faced in the military.”
In a statement, the U.S. Army Special Counsel’s Office confirmed King’s guilty plea as part of a plea agreement and said that “pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement, all other charges and specifications have been dismissed.”
“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.
