US Army charges Wisconsin man who defected to North Korea with desertion and soliciting child pornography: Report

The U.S. Army has charged the soldier who defected to North Korea in July with desertion, solicitation of child pornography, and various other crimes, according to documents obtained by Reuters.

Pvt. Travis King, 23, joined the Army in January 2021 and served as a cavalry scout with the Korean Rotational Force in South Korea.

Reuters reported that he was accused on more than one occasion of assault. He ultimately pleaded guilty to one charge of assault and to damaging a police car during a profanity-laced rant against South Koreans.

After he did a one-month stint in a South Korean jail, the U.S. Army sent him packing to the airport on July 18 so that he could face disciplinary measures stateside. King apparently had no intention of facing accountability back at Fort Bliss, Texas.

He reportedly left the customs checkpoint, fled the airport, then joined a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area on the border between the two Koreas. King then ran across the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea.

The Army officially declared King AWOL but had not gone so far as to label him a deserter. Possible penalties for going AWOL include military jail time, a dishonorable discharge, and/or a forfeiture of pay.

The communist regime used the defection as a propaganda opportunity, claiming the 23-year-old was seeking refuge because of "inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination" in America, adding that "he also expressed his willingness to seek refugee in the DPRK or a third country, saying that he was disillusioned at the unequal American society."

After a two-month stay, King was returned to the U.S. on Sept. 27. Sweden had acted as the primary interlocutor between the U.S. and North Korea in securing the defector's release.

King has since undergone medical exams, psychological assessments, and debriefings, reported NPR.

The private now reportedly faces at least eight distinct charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The private has been accused of:

• desertion;
• possessing child pornography and attempting to get a Snapchat user in July 2023 to "knowingly and willingly produce child pornography";
• insubordination for leaving his base after curfew and flouting Army regulations concerning the consumption of alcohol;
• attempting to escape from U.S. military custody in October 2022; and
• various other improprieties, including kicking and punching other officers last year.

According to the 2023 Manual for Courts-Martial United States, any member of the armed forces who "without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away therefrom permanently" is guilty of desertion.

"Desertion with intent to remain away permanently is complete when the person absents himself or herself without authority from his or her unit, organization, or place of duty, with the intent to remain away therefrom permanently," says the manual. "A prompt repentance and return, while material in extenuation, is no defense."

If found guilty of desertion, then King could face a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and jail time.

Possible penalties for desertion during wartime include death. As the Korean War is technically not over — as the 1953 armistice between the United Nations Command and both China and North Korea was never formally signed by the South Korean government — it is unclear precisely how high the stakes are in the forthcoming court-martial.

King's mother, Claudine Gates, said that she loves her son "unconditionally" and asks that her "son be afforded the presumption of innocence," reported ABC News.

"The man I raised, the man I dropped off at boot camp, the man who spent the holidays with me before deploying did not drink," Gates said in a statement. "A mother knows her son, and I believe something happened to mine while he was deployed. The Army promised to investigate what happened at Camp Humphreys, and I await the results."

Travis King chargesyoutu.be

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