US Soldier Detained in North Korea

[Chimera]

Army private who fled to North Korea charged with desertion, held by US military, officials tell AP

An Army private who fled to North Korea before being returned home to the United States last month has been detained by the U.S. military, two officials said Thursday night, and is facing charges including desertion and possessing sexual images of a child. Travis King are detailed in a charging...

www.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Army private who fled to North Korea before being returned home to the United States last month has been detained by the U.S. military, two officials said Thursday night, and is facing charges including desertion and possessing sxual images of a child.

The eight counts against Pvt. Travis King are detailed in a charging document seen by The Associated Press. The officials who confirmed King's confinement spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the charges have not been publicly announced.

King's mother, Claudine Gates, said in a statement that she loved her son “unconditionally” and was “extremely concerned about his mental health.”

“As his mother, I ask that my son be afforded the presumption of innocence,” she said.
Red bolding mine.
Eight ??
Wow.

Travis was busy trying to : "Be all that you can be ...".
Ahem.

Glad for his mom's sake he is back; but he sounds like he's in a lot of trouble.
Omo.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I really want to have empathy for a young man who is battling mental health issues. There is, however, this horrifying allegation: King was accused of soliciting a Snapchat user in July 2023 to "knowingly and willingly produce child [sexual abuse material]."

Source:

Exclusive: US Army charges Private Travis King with desertion over dash into North Korea

The Army's case against King, which has not been previously reported, includes eight distinct charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, setting up a substantial legal battle for the 23-year-old soldier.

www.reuters.com

Also quotes his mother:
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.

 

[vls12345]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/20/politics/travis-king-desertion/index.html

"Travis King, the US Army private who fled to North Korea in July, has been charged by the Army with desertion, among other crimes, according to a charging document seen by CNN Thursday.

King, who was released from North Korean custody and returned to the United States last month, was charged with a series of other alleged offenses, including possession of child *advertiser censored*, assaulting fellow soldiers, and disobeying a superior officer, according to the document. He was charged with eight counts total."

 

[Friday Fan]

He's mess up......

 

[Ontario Mom]

What he's facing now is most likely daily torture, extreme hunger, imprisonment, and forced labor. MOO

Well... in light of the recent developments on this case, okay.

"King was also allegedly caught possessing child *advertiser censored* and asked another individual over Snapchat to “knowingly and willingly produce child *advertiser censored*” the same month he fled to North Korea, according to the charges." https://nypost.com/2023/10/20/army-...g-to-north-korea-child-*advertiser censored*/

 

[justtrish]

So PVT Travis King was/is stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas and is sent to South Korea as part of a normal, scheduled "rotation/deployment". During that time he gets in trouble off the base. He also assaults those servicemembers that are in charge of him during that time. He serves time in a South Korea jail for the charges he received for the off base actions and has to pay a fine for those actions.

While he was serving his time, the people he deployed with return to Fort Bliss. He is released from the jail and would be then returned to Fort Bliss to rejoin his company that had already left Korea. There he would face a discharge from the Army, but at the very least, he'd be facing punishment for assaulting the servicemembers before he served time in jail. (this is my assumption based on what we have heard. Korea punished him for what he did to Koreas and since he is charged with assaulting servicemembers from an incident in 2022, which he would then be punished for upon returning to Fort Bliss)

It is very typical for there to be a period of time that he would get medically evaluated, get his paperwork in order, and other "check the box" things in order to return to the US from Korea. So when he is released from jail in SK and is waiting to return to the US.. he gets in trouble for the snapchat child p#$n stuff? Well maybe THAT is why he ran to North Korea?? It looks like his charges are from 3 separate incidents.

Assaulting service members in 2022
Snapchat child p$#N
Fleeing to NK

 

[Inthedetails]

So PVT Travis King was/is stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas and is sent to South Korea as part of a normal, scheduled "rotation/deployment". During that time he gets in trouble off the base. He also assaults those servicemembers that are in charge of him during that time. He serves time in a South Korea jail for the charges he received for the off base actions and has to pay a fine for those actions.

While he was serving his time, the people he deployed with return to Fort Bliss. He is released from the jail and would be then returned to Fort Bliss to rejoin his company that had already left Korea. There he would face a discharge from the Army, but at the very least, he'd be facing punishment for assaulting the servicemembers before he served time in jail. (this is my assumption based on what we have heard. Korea punished him for what he did to Koreas and since he is charged with assaulting servicemembers from an incident in 2022, which he would then be punished for upon returning to Fort Bliss)

It is very typical for there to be a period of time that he would get medically evaluated, get his paperwork in order, and other "check the box" things in order to return to the US from Korea. So when he is released from jail in SK and is waiting to return to the US.. he gets in trouble for the snapchat child p#$n stuff? Well maybe THAT is why he ran to North Korea?? It looks like his charges are from 3 separate incidents.

Assaulting service members in 2022
Snapchat child p$#N
Fleeing to NK

That sounds plausible to me.

Ran to North Korea and North Korea kicked right back out (well, not exactly like that, but....kinda.)

jmo

 

[Ladyotm]

He's mess up......

Right! I was rooting for him to be released, thinking about his mental state and possible reasons for acting out. He is a criminal. And I believe he ran to North Korea of all places, to escape justice that is to come in the states.

 

[Chimera]

Travis is (imo !) insanely fortunate to not be another Otto Warmbier.
He should be grateful every single day no matter what happens now.
SMH.
A life in the NK prisons would not go well for him !
Omo.

 

[Chimera]

Mother of Travis King, soldier charged with desertion to North Korea, says family plans to 'fight charges hard'

The mother of Travis King, a U.S. Army private charged by the Army with desertion for crossing the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea this summer, said that her family plans "to fight the charges and fight the charges hard." In an exclusive interview with ABC News Tuesday, Claudine Gates and...

www.yahoo.com

King solicited a Snapchat user to take lewd photos of herself in exchange for money in early July, according to the charging document. Gates said she was "blindsided" by the accusation of King possessing child p.; and found out about the charges on the news. Jovanovic added the charge is "100 percent-plus out of character" for King.

"That's not him, period," Jovanovic said.

Both parents say King lost his phone in South Korea, which would have made his social media account vulnerable.

"If you got all these devices accessible or laying around and everything, God only knows how that manifested itself in there," said Jovanovic.
They blasted the Army for not putting him in treatment to address the drinking they say apparently started in South Korea.

"They should have given him some type of help and got him off that juice," said Jovanovic. "Something had to be done about it so it [didn't] escalate to being worse, which I think that's what happened."
I understand a mother defending her child, but sometimes it is what it is.
And I hardly think it's fair to blame the military for Travis' drinking problem.
Omo.

Mom of Travis King says Army forced him to sign secrecy agreement

King, 23, is detained in El Paso, Texas , after North Korea handed him to the US last month following his desertion in July.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Ontario Mom]

Mother of Travis King, soldier charged with desertion to North Korea, says family plans to 'fight charges hard'

The mother of Travis King, a U.S. Army private charged by the Army with desertion for crossing the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea this summer, said that her family plans "to fight the charges and fight the charges hard." In an exclusive interview with ABC News Tuesday, Claudine Gates and...

www.yahoo.com

King solicited a Snapchat user to take lewd photos of herself in exchange for money in early July, according to the charging document. Gates said she was "blindsided" by the accusation of King possessing child p.; and found out about the charges on the news. Jovanovic added the charge is "100 percent-plus out of character" for King.

"That's not him, period," Jovanovic said.

Both parents say King lost his phone in South Korea, which would have made his social media account vulnerable.

"If you got all these devices accessible or laying around and everything, God only knows how that manifested itself in there," said Jovanovic.
They blasted the Army for not putting him in treatment to address the drinking they say apparently started in South Korea.

"They should have given him some type of help and got him off that juice," said Jovanovic. "Something had to be done about it so it [didn't] escalate to being worse, which I think that's what happened."
I understand a mother defending her child, but sometimes it is what it is.
And I hardly think it's fair to blame the military for Travis' drinking problem.
Omo.

Mom of Travis King says Army forced him to sign secrecy agreement

King, 23, is detained in El Paso, Texas , after North Korea handed him to the US last month following his desertion in July.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Yep, mom's in denial.
I can't say I blame her. I might be too if it were my son.

jmo

 

[PrairieWind]

Yep, mom's in denial.
I can't say I blame her. I might be too if it were my son.

jmo

I really don't blame mothers for defending their children to an extent. Its what mothers do. Now, if they start blaming others, that gets a little different.

 

[vls12345]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/26/politics/travis-king-expected-plead-guilty-desertion-north-korea/index.html

“US Army Private Travis King will take responsibility for his conduct and enter a guilty plea. He was charged by the Army with fourteen offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” a statement from King’s attorney, Frank Rosenblatt, said Monday. “He will plead guilty to five of those, including desertion.”

 

[Chimera]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/26/politics/travis-king-expected-plead-guilty-desertion-north-korea/index.html

“US Army Private Travis King will take responsibility for his conduct and enter a guilty plea. He was charged by the Army with fourteen offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” a statement from King’s attorney, Frank Rosenblatt, said Monday. “He will plead guilty to five of those, including desertion.”

Thanks for the update, @vls12345 !
Still say he's one incredibly lucky dude.
Hope the penalties are severe for the charges laid against T.K.
Omo.

 

[justtrish]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/26/politics/travis-king-expected-plead-guilty-desertion-north-korea/index.html

“US Army Private Travis King will take responsibility for his conduct and enter a guilty plea. He was charged by the Army with fourteen offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” a statement from King’s attorney, Frank Rosenblatt, said Monday. “He will plead guilty to five of those, including desertion.”

Thanks for the update! I was at Bliss till the end of June and would check for updates occasionally and never found any.

I hope he gets the maximum for the desertion and assaulting a noncommissioned officer. He chose to not only desert the Army, but chose to flee to one of the most hostile to the US countries he could have went to, which could have lead to an international situation had NK decided to make him an example. Physically harming another soldier who was above him.. just as disturbing.