The U.S. Army has charged the soldier who ran across the North Korean border back in July with crimes including desertion and soliciting child pornography.
Travis King, 23, who was expelled by North Korea in September after two months in the communist regime’s custody, now faces eight charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Reuters reported. King was returned to U.S. custody on September 27 after sprinting across the heavily guarded demilitarized zone (DMZ) line in July while on a civilian tour.
King is accused of soliciting a Snapchat user in July to “knowingly and willingly produce child pornography.” He is also accused of possession of child pornography. The soldier’s mother Claudine Gates asked for her son to “be afforded the presumption of innocence.”
“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. “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.”
After the U.S. negotiated King’s release, the Swedish government picked him up in North Korea before handing him over to the U.S. ambassador in China, according to Reuters. He was then flown to a military hospital in Texas where he received medical and mental health evaluations.
King, who had reportedly been disciplined for assault in South Korea and was set to be removed from the U.S. military, allegedly told the North Koreans that he fled into the country because he “harbored ill feelings against inhuman mistreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army” and “was disillusioned at the unequal American society.” The alleged remarks made by King after entering the Hermit Kingdom could not be verified by the Pentagon.
Prior to crossing into North Korea, King was involved in at least two separate episodes where South Korean police were brought in to intervene, including incidents in September and October 2022.
In September, King had a case settled after he was accused of punching a man in the face at a South Korean club. The following month, he was accused of acting aggressively toward police officers responding to a call about a fight, court documents obtained by Reuters show.
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The 23-year-old soldier’s family has hired a legal team that includes Franklin Rosenblatt, who defended Bowe Bergdahl during court-martial proceedings. Bergdahl deserted his post in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held by the Taliban for five years before being exchanged for five high-ranking Taliban members held at Guantanamo Bay in a prisoner swap.
“I am grateful for the extraordinary legal team representing my son, and I look forward to my son having his day in court,” Gates said.
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.