A lawyer for an Army private who fled to North Korea and was later charged with desertion and possessing sexual images of a child has revealed that negotiations are underway with military prosecutors to resolve the case. Army Pvt. Travis King, who had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Fort Bliss, Texas, had the hearing canceled to allow for discussions between the two sides. The attorney declined to disclose specific details of the negotiations but mentioned that a request had been made to postpone the hearing by two weeks, indicating that a resolution might render the preliminary hearing unnecessary.
King made headlines in July 2023 when he ran across the heavily fortified border from South Korea, becoming the first American detained in North Korea in nearly five years. After being taken to the airport and escorted to customs, King unexpectedly left and later joined a civilian tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom. In a daring move, he ran across the border, which is heavily guarded and frequented by tourists, in broad daylight.
Following approximately two months in North Korea, Pyongyang announced King's expulsion, and he was flown to an Air Force base in Texas on September 28. Subsequently, in October, he was charged with desertion and additional offenses, including assaulting other officers, possessing alcohol unlawfully, making false statements, and having a video depicting a child engaged in sexual activity.
King's mother, Claudine Gates, expressed deep concern for her son's mental health in a statement, emphasizing her unconditional love for him. She refuted the allegations against King, stating that the man she knew before his deployment would not have been involved in such activities. Gates suggested that something may have happened to her son during his time in the military.
