Army Pvt. Travis King is charged with desertion for bolting into North Korea while on a tour of the Demilitarized Zone in July 2023, a day after he was supposed to travel to Fort Bliss, Texas. (Family Photo/AP)
AUSTIN, Texas — The first court appearance of a Fort Bliss soldier charged with desertion for running into North Korea last year has been postponed, according to the soldier’s attorney.
Pvt. Travis King, 24, faces eight charges, including desertion, assault and soliciting child sexual abuse material. Attorneys are negotiating a possible plea agreement, said Frank Rosenblatt, the attorney for King.
“These negotiations, I believe, will meet both the needs of Pvt. King and the Army to resolve this case,” Rosenblatt said Monday. “It does appear that because of that, the Article 32 hearing may no longer be necessary.”
The Office of Special Trial Counsel, which is handling the case, confirmed Monday that the court hearing for King was delayed but did not provide further information.
Originally scheduled to begin Tuesday at Fort Bliss in Texas, the Article 32 hearing would have allowed each side to present evidence to an officer, who then recommends whether the charges against King should move forward to a court-martial. The Office of Special Trial Counsel would then use that recommendation to determine the legal path forward.
The charges include attempted escape from custody, solicitation of sexual abuse of a child, desertion, disobeying a superior commissioned officer, assault on a noncommissioned officer, false official statement, assault consummated by battery, and possession of child pornography, according to the special trial counsel.
Since the charges were announced in October, King has been detained at the Otero County Detention Center in nearby Alamogordo, N.M.
King’s attorneys intended to present the results of a mental competency evaluation conducted in the last six months by a team from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Rosenblatt said last week.
King first enlisted in the Army in January 2021 as a cavalry scout and had no prior deployments. He was in South Korea as part of a rotational deployment with the 6th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, according to the Army.
He was scheduled to return in July 2023 to Fort Bliss, where he was to face disciplinary hearings with the Army, but instead of boarding his flight, he made his way to a tour of the Demilitarized Zone. During that tour, he sprinted across the border from South Korea into North Korea.
State-run media in North Korea reported last year that King told officials that he fled the U.S. because he was “disillusioned at the unequal American society” and he wished to seek refuge in North Korea or a third country.
The Swedish government served a diplomatic role in securing King’s release, and China assisted with safe transit out of North Korea for the soldier, according to the Defense Department. He arrived back in the U.S. in September.
