It isn’t often that a member of the U.S. Army taken into custody by North Korea is deemed so useless that the DPRK would voluntarily give him back but that is what happened last year. Travis King had his 15 minutes of infamy in 2023 when he was seen bolting across the DMZ 38th parallel divide and deserted. The first North Korean building he reached was locked. King went to the other side of the building to try another door. A car roared up, stuffed King into the back seat, and the deserter was gone.  

The DMZ divides the Korean nations. Free Korea is in the south; the hermit nation is to the north. The Korean War technically never “ended”. An armistice and cessation of hostilities governs an uneasy truce. It seems to me that, technically, a deserter to North Korea is deserting in time of war, with the penalty up to execution, per 10 U.S. Code § 88 - Article 85. Going over to North Korea seems like a pretty “bad act” deserving of a severe punishment. Not execution, but years of "breaking rocks." Why did Travis King desert to North Korea? 

Travis King was set to fly out of South Korea but instead of getting on his flight, he told airport authorities that he had lost his passport. His military escort had stopped at security, and apparently trusted that he would get on his flight back to America. Airport authorities accepted his story and escorted him to outside the terminal. King disappeared. The next day, he reappeared. He had booked a spot with a touring group that was scheduled to visit the DMZ. King joined the tour group and while tourists were doing their thing, King bolted across the DMZ into the loving arms of DMRK. Apparently, he had reasoned that defecting was better than facing criminal charges in the USA.  

At the time, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said:  

"I'm absolutely foremost concerned about the welfare of our troop[er]. We will remain focused on this, and this will develop in the next several days"  

Other American soldiers had defected since the Korean War. James Joseph Dresnok was the last US soldier defector/deserter in North Korea. Dresnok's first wife had left him while he was stationed in West Germany. In South Korea, he had spent all his money on prostitutes and booze, and was about to be court-marshalled for forging a superior's signature. Instead of facing punishment, he crossed a minefield and defected. Dresnok became something of a celebrity stooge for the Hermit Kingdom, acting in several "films". He starred in a 20-hour-long propaganda film called "Unsung Heroes." His character’s name was “Arthur C**kstud.” Thereafter, he was often called "C**kstud" by his commie brethren. 

Dresnok died in 2016, but his death wasn't announced for a year. Dresnok had fathered two faithful, communist sons. After their father died, they read statements extolling their traitor dad and reminded the West that “Dear Leader” would blow America to smithereens if America attacked. North Korea clearly got some value out of Dresnok. Perhaps King thought he could be the next “C**kstud”.  

But King wasn’t welcome in the DPRK. No doubt he was interrogated for whatever information he had, but that turned out to be worthless. Before King decided to defect and run across the DMZ, he was facing charges of solicitation of child porn, possession of child porn, assaulting a non-commissioned officer, and making false statements. Charges that, apparently, even the North Koreans found unusable for propaganda. King wasn’t welcome, even in North Korea. He was escorted to the south and booted back into the waiting arms of military police.  

After Private King returned (this time with an escort), he was sent to Fort Bliss. The complete set of charges were: Escaping from custody, solicitation of child porn, desertion, willfully disobeying a superior officer, assault on a non-commissioned officer, false statements, assault by battery, and possession of child pornography. It seemed King was in for some hard time. If you thought that, you would be wrong.  

King pled guilty to desertion, willfully disobeying an officer subsection one, three, four, and subsection two of assault on a non-commissioned officer. Instead of facing charges on possession and solicitation of child porn, 

The military court judge at Fort Bliss, Texas, reportedly told King that without the plea he could serve up to 20 years following his admission of guilt.

King’s lawyer got him a sweet deal. He was sentenced to just 12 months confinement. His lawyer said: 

Travis is grateful to his friends and family who have supported him, and to all outside his circle who did not pre-judge his case based on the initial allegations," 

Maybe the child porn evidence “disappeared” like Hillary’s emails, but 12 months confinement for what King was facing with seems ridiculously lenient. With time served and "good behavior," King is a free man. No breaking rocks for Travis. 

Travis King, the U.S. soldier who ran across the Demilitarized Zone and into North Korea, now walks free after spending nearly a year in prison. pic.twitter.com/JZkWPUKrAc

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 21, 2024

You'll note that they don't mention that he had been charged with child porn possession. Weird. 

Anyway – be all you can be, in today's Army.