Lawyers for Pvt. Travis King, Soldier Who Ran into North Korea, Are in Plea Negotiations Ahead of Hearing

A lawyer for Pvt. Travis King says that they have entered negotiations with prosecutors in the hopes of working out a plea deal for the young soldier who dramatically ran across the border into North Korea last July.

"The negotiation that we're in is in the best interest of both Pvt. King and the U.S. Army," Frank Rosenblatt, King's attorney, told Military.com in a phone interview Monday.

King was set to have an Article 32 hearing -- a preliminary hearing similar to a grand jury proceeding for civilians -- on eight different charges that included desertion and child pornography on Monday, but the hearing has been delayed two weeks.

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"If these negotiations completely fall apart, then we'll eventually have an Article 32. But if the negotiations are successful, then it will obviate the need for a preliminary hearing," Rosenblatt said.

Michelle McCaskill, a spokeswoman for the Army's Office of Special Trial Counsel, confirmed that King's lawyers requested a delay in the proceedings and that Army prosecutors "had no objection."

Rosenblatt wouldn't say what a potential deal would look like other than it would be "in the best interest" of King and the service.

In addition to being represented by Rosenblatt, a former Army lawyer who was the lead military defense counsel for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, King's legal team includes Sherilyn Bunn, a civilian attorney from El Paso who "has extensive experience on Fort Bliss," according to her firm's website, and two military lawyers.

Bunn represented Maj. Gen. Phillip Stewart, an Air Force officer who was found not guilty of sexually assaulting a subordinate officer earlier this month.

In addition to desertion and child pornography charges, King is charged with insubordination, making false official statements, and assault for actions that go back almost two years. His history of legal troubles began more than a year before he bolted across one of the most heavily guarded borders in the world.

On Sept. 25, 2022, King was accused of assault, according to local court records, and police in Seoul alleged that he pushed and punched a bar patron who refused to buy him a drink. Those charges were ultimately dropped.

Then, two weeks later, just before 4 a.m. on Oct. 8, 2022, King was arrested in Mapo, South Korea, and placed in a squad car. He allegedly refused to answer questions, kicked the car's doors and ranted: "F--- Korean, f--- Korean army, f--- Korean police." He was fined about $3,950 and ordered to pay nearly $800 for damage to the police car, according to reports.

The charging documents provided to Military.com after King's return from North Korean custody say that he also kicked a staff sergeant in the head and punched a second lieutenant in the head that day.

The Army quickly responded to these incidents by ordering King not to leave its pair of bases situated between Seoul and the Demilitarized Zone that borders North Korea; to be escorted when he was outside his barracks; and not to drink alcohol.

The charging documents allege that he violated all those orders.

NBC reported that King was ultimately jailed by South Korean authorities for 48 days for failing to pay the fines leveled at him over his actions in Mapo that October.

Once King was released from a South Korean prison, the Army ordered him back to Fort Bliss, Texas, to face additional military discipline.

Instead, King never boarded a flight back to the States and wound up on a civilian tour of the border village of Panmunjom, a major tourist attraction along the Demilitarized Zone, from where he dashed into North Korea on July 18, 2023.

At the end of that September, North Korea suddenly announced that it was releasing King back into U.S. custody.

After his return to the U.S., Rosenblatt said in a social media post that King "spent three weeks in debriefings and reintegration at Joint Base San Antonio."

Once her son was back in the States, King's mother, Claudine Gates, said that she loved him "unconditionally" and that she was "extremely concerned about his mental health," in a statement provided by family spokesman Jonathan Franks.

Gates said that she believed "something happened to [King] while he was deployed."

"He has spent the past several months in Otero County Detention Center in New Mexico, which the Army at Fort Bliss uses for its pre-trial detainees," Rosenblatt said in a post, before adding that "Private King appreciates all who wish him well and don't prejudge him or his case."

Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify the nature of the delay after Army officials reached out to Military.com.

Related: Pvt. Travis King, Soldier Who Fled to North Korea, Faces Desertion and Child Pornography Charges