Travis King, the US soldier who ran across the border from South to North Korea, will plead guilty to desertion and assault as part of a plea deal, his lawyer said on Monday (August 26).

The soldier will plead guilty to 5 of the 14 offenses he was initially charged with. In addition to desertion, King is pleading guilty to three counts of disobeying a lawful order and one count of assaulting a non-commissioned officer.

He will plead not guilty to other charges, including soliciting and possession of child pornography, drinking against orders, and leaving his base in South Korea after curfew.

These offenses will be withdrawn and dismissed as part of his plea deal, King’s attorney, Frank Rosenblatt, said, as per CNN.

Travis King, the US Army soldier who crossed the border from South to North Korea on foot, is expected to plead guilty to desertion

Image credits: Thomas Evans/Unsplash

The multiple charges reflect King’s alleged behavior before he ran across the Demilitarized Zone, which divides South and North Korea, on July 18, 2023.

King deserted the US Army to enter the totalitarian state a week after his release from a detention facility in South Korea. He had been held there for two months over allegations that included assault of an individual at a nightclub in Seoul, the capital, in October 2022.

He was also fined 5 million won ($3,750) for “repeatedly kicking” the back door of a police car and screaming “foul language” at the officers trying to apprehend him, the BBC reported in September 2023.

In addition to desertion, King is pleading guilty to assaulting a non-commissioned officer as part of a plea deal with prosecutors

Image credits: Travis King

The Army had ordered King to return to the US to face disciplinary action the day he crossed the border illegally.

He was taken to Incheon Airport by army escorts, who left him at a security checkpoint because they were not allowed to accompany him to the plane.

Instead of getting on a plane, he left the airport after telling an American Airlines official that his passport had gone missing, and he joined a tour of the border village of Panmunjom the next day. During the tour, he left the group and ran into North Korea.

An eyewitness of the border tour reportedly described hearing the soldier laughing loudly before making a turn.

Image credits: maroke/stock.adobe.com

According to a US official, King attempted to enter a facility in North Korea but was unable to do so because the door was locked. Then, he ran to the back of the building, where he was found and put into a van.

North Korea held the soldier for two months until September 27, 2023. A Swedish convoy took him to the border between North Korea and China, where he was handed off to the US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, and the US defense attache to China, Brig. Gen Patrick Teague, CNN reported.

King was then flown to Shenyang, China, and then to Osan Air Force Base in South Korea, from which he returned to the US.

The soldier ran into North Korea after being jailed in South Korea for two months

Image credits: ABC News

“We can confirm Pvt King is very happy to be on his way home and he is very much looking forward to reuniting with his family,” a senior US administration official said at the time, adding that King’s return was the result of months of “intense diplomacy.”

As the US and North Korea have no formal relations, Sweden’s embassy in Pyongyang has traditionally negotiated on behalf of the US.

US officials stated that the government made no concessions to secure the soldier’s release.

@skynews A US soldier who ran across the border into North Korea has arrived back to the United States. It remains unclear why Private Travis King crossed the border during a sightseeing trip to the border – and American officials have refused to be drawn on what punishment he might face. #TravisKing #NorthKorea #UnitedStates #Soldier ♬ original sound – Sky News

North Korea claimed that King, who had been in the Army since 2021, “confessed that he illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK (North Korea) as he harbored ill feelings against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US Army and was disillusioned about the unequal US society.” 

The soldier’s mother, Claudine Gates, believes her son’s behavior was the result of something that affected his mental health during his time in South Korea.

“A mother knows her son, and I believe something happened to mine while he was deployed,” Gates said in October 2023. “I just can’t see him ever wanting to just stay in Korea when he has family in America. He has so many reasons to come home.”

His uncle, Carl Gates, said that King began acting “reckless and crazy” around the time of his 7-year-old cousin’s death in February 2023.

Image credits: narvikk/Getty Images

His case was taken over by the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel in July.

“Travis is grateful to his friends and family who have supported him, and to all outside of his circle who did not prejudge his case based on the initial allegations,” Attorney Rosenblatt said.

King will remain in pre-trial confinement at least until his court martial hearing, which is scheduled for September 20 at Fort Bliss, Texas.

He returned to his home country in September 2023, two months after crossing the border

Image credits: ABC News

“If Pvt. King’s guilty plea is accepted, the judge will sentence King pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement,” said Michelle McCaskill, a spokesperson for the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.

“If the judge does not accept the guilty plea, the judge can rule that the case be litigated in a contested court-martial.”

The US State Department warns its citizens about the potential risks of entering North Korea.

“Do not travel to North Korea due to the continuing serious risk of arrest and long-term detention of US nationals,” reads a travel warning on the website. “The US government is unable to provide emergency services to US citizens in North Korea.”

Image credits: E. Peters/stock.adobe.com

US citizens who have been detained in North Korea include scholars, tourists, and journalists. In 2018, the country released Otto Warmbier, an American college student who had been jailed for stealing a hotel sign. He had visited the state as part of a tour.

Warmbier returned to the US in a coma and later died. His father said he had been “systematically tortured and intentionally injured.”

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