Oct 20, 2023 at 7:12 AM Update: 20 minutes ago
The US military has charged the soldier who crossed the North Korean border in July. Travis King is suspected of abandoning his post, attacking other soldiers and soliciting child pornography.
King deliberately crossed the border into North Korea without permission in July during a tourist tour in South Korea. It is still not clear why he did that. He was deported by North Korea at the end of September, after which the US took him into custody.
The 23-year-old soldier was stationed in South Korea. He already tried to escape from that country in October 2022. He is being prosecuted for desertion, among other things, because he did not intend to return. In most of the world’s armed forces, leaving your post is a crime.
According to documents obtained by news agency Reuters he tried to obtain sexual images of a minor via Snapchat in July 2023, just before he left for North Korea. He is also charged with possession of child pornography.
Since the incident, the US military has not answered questions about King and the possible consequences for him. King has been under examination at a military hospital since returning to the US.
King’s family said in a statement that he is “innocent until proven guilty.”
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North KoreaUnited StatesForeign
2023-10-20 05:12:00
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