Elbahrain.net Travis King, the US soldier who escaped to North Korea from South Korea last year before being sent back home, was dishonorably discharged from the military and given a one-year prison sentence.
Charges against him included assaulting a non-commissioned officer and deserting in July 2023.
However, the 24-year-old Army private was released because he had previously completed his time and received praise for his good behavior, his legal team told the BBC.
He entered a guilty plea to five of the first 14 military charges that were brought against him at Friday’s hearing at Fort Bliss, Texas. The remaining counts were dropped.
King enlisted in the army in January 2021 and crossed into North Korea while on a unit tour in South Korea.
King informed military court Lt Col Rick Mathew at the trial that he had been considering leaving the US Army for almost a year before he absconded into North Korea because he was “dissatisfied” with his job.
“I wanted to flee from the US Army and never come back,” King said, according to reporters inside the courtroom.
In addition, he disclosed that he had received a mental health diagnosis; yet, he insisted that he was competent to face trial and was aware of the allegations.
Franklin Rosenblatt, King’s attorney, stated in a statement that his client acknowledges complete responsibility for the events that transpired and that King “had many difficulties throughout his life, such as a rough upbringing, exposure to dangerous situations, and mental health issues.”
According to Mr. Rosenblatt, “all these things have worsened the challenges he suffered in the service.”
While on a civilian tour of the town of Panmunjom, which is situated on the tightly fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea, King entered North Korea unlawfully. After being freed from a South Korean prison where he had spent almost two months on accusations of assaulting two individuals and kicking a police car, he embarked on the civilian tour.
He was driven to the airport upon his release so he could go back to the Fort Bliss post and be disciplined there. King, however, chose to join the civilian tour rather than board the aircraft, and in the end, he fled into North Korea, where he was apprehended by the local government.
He had left the US military due to “inhuman treatment” and prejudice, according to North Korean media at the time.
In almost five years, he became the first American held in North Korea.
Following “intensive diplomacy,” King was freed two months later, according to US officials at the time. He was flown to a US airbase in South Korea by a state department plane.
He was returned to Texas by air on September 28, 2023, and has been detained there ever since.
The US military accused him of deserting, hitting and striking other personnel, illegally carrying alcohol, fabricating a statement, and having a video showing a youngster having sex with another person the following month.
