Travis King, the U.S. Army soldier who crossed the border from South Korea to North Korea last year, will plead guilty to desertion and assault as part of a plea deal, his attorney said.
At a court hearing Sept. 20 at Fort Bliss, Texas, King is expected to plead guilty to five of the 14 charges against him. The five counts include one count of desertion, three counts of disobeying a lawful order and one count of assaulting a noncommissioned officer.
King’s attorney, Franklin Rosenblatt, revealed the plea deal in a statement provided to ABC News today. The possibility of a plea deal in King’s case first emerged in mid-July.
“Private 2nd Class Travis King will take responsibility for his conduct and plead guilty,” Rosenblatt said. “He has been charged by the Army with 14 felonies under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He will plead guilty to five of them, including desertion.”
“He will plead not guilty to the other charges, which the military will withdraw and dismiss,” he added.
“Travis will plead guilty before a general court-martial. He will explain what he did, answer questions from a military judge about why he is pleading guilty, and be sentenced,” Rosenblatt said. “Travis is grateful to his friends and family who have supported him, and to everyone outside his inner circle who did not prejudge his case based on the initial allegations.”
At the Sept. 20 hearing, a military judge will determine whether to accept the deal and how much time King will have to serve in a military prison.
In July 2023, King entered North Korea, sparking an international incident when he was detained by North Korean authorities for more than two months after rushing into North Korea at the DMZ Joint Security Area. Before joining the tour group that brought him to the DMZ, King had escaped from his military escort at the airport where he was scheduled to board a flight back to the United States.
