The US soldier who ran across the demilitarised zone into North Korea has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for desertion and dishonourably discharged.
Travis King, who was a private second class, was with a civilian tour group in Panmunjom, South Korea, when he crossed the fortified zone on 18 July 2023.
The 24-year-old was detained in North Korea before he was returned to the US in September of that year following behind-the-scenes negotiations.
King faced 14 military charges as he was accused of desertion, kicking and punching other officers, unlawfully possessing alcohol, making a false statement and possessing a video of a child engaged in sexual activity.
Nine of the charges were dismissed after King pleaded guilty to five of them – one count of desertion, one count of assault on a non-commissioned officer, and three counts of disobeying a lawful order.
On Friday, he was sentenced by a military judge at Fort Bliss, Texas, to 12 months in prison for desertion and one month on each of the other four counts.
However, he will walk free after he was sentenced to time served.
King had served 338 days in the US in addition to 63 days in North Korea.
“With time already served and credit for good behaviour, Travis is now free and will return home,” his lawyer Frank Rosenblatt said.
King was also dishonourably discharged from the military, something sought by the prosecution.
The former soldier and his attorneys had sought a “bad conduct discharge”.
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Major Allyson Montgomery, with the army’s office of the special counsel, was quoted by an army publication as saying: “The outcome of today’s court martial is a fair and just result that reflects the seriousness of the offenses committed by Pvt. King and will promote good order and discipline within the US Army by deterring soldiers from committing similar offenses in the future.”
King had been in the US military since January 2021 and was detained in South Korea over assault allegations to which he pleaded guilty.
He was due to face disciplinary action in the US after his release from South Korean detention.
However, after he had been escorted by military police as far as they could go, he slipped away from Seoul’s international airport and joined a civilian tour of the border area between North and South Korea.
It was then that he bolted to North Korea where he was immediately detained.
The incident occurred five decades after another US soldier, James Dresnok defected to North Korea in 1962 as he was being threatened with a court-martial.