U.S. soldier who fled to North Korea will plead guilty to desertion, other criminal charges, lawyer says

Travis King, the U.S. Army soldier who fled North Korea last year from South Korea, is expected to plead guilty to multiple criminal charges, including desertion, his attorney said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.

The U.S. military has charged King with 14 offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, King’s attorney, Frank Rosenblatt, said.

King will plead guilty to five of those charges and not guilty to the remaining charges, which the Army intends to dismiss, Rosenblatt said.

King’s guilty plea will be entered before a general court-martial where he will explain his actions to the military judge, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Rick Mathew.

The guilty plea and sentencing will take place on Friday, September 20, 2024, at 9 a.m. at Fort Bliss, Texas.

“Travis is grateful to his friends and family who have supported him, as well as to everyone outside his inner circle who has not prejudged his case based on the initial allegations,” Rosenblatt said.

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The North Korean government released King last September after holding him since July 18, when he allegedly fled from a tour group in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

There was no contact with King after his capture, and North Korean officials were stubborn in their responses to American inquiries.

The incident came after King spent two months in a South Korean detention center following a physical altercation with locals, a senior defense official previously on Fox News said. Throughout his time at the center, he said he did not want to return to America.

King was eventually released on July 10 and sent home Monday to Fort Bliss, where he could have faced additional disciplinary action and discharge from military service. King faces at least two other charges related to assaults in South Korea.

North Korean state media reported that King confessed to entering the country because of “inhumane mistreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. military.”

The king’s mother has disputed reports from North Korea, saying her son had no motivation to defect to the totalitarian nation.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.S. military for comment.

Source of the original article: U.S. soldier who fled to North Korea will plead guilty to desertion, other criminal charges, lawyer says