A US Army soldier who fled from South Korea to North Korea last year has pleaded guilty to desertion and has been sentenced to 12 months of confinement.
But with time already served and credit for good behaviour, the soldier was released, his lawyer said.
Travis King faced 14 charges for crossing the heavily armed border that divides the Korean Peninsula in July 2023, as well as prior incidents.
At Friday's Texas hearing, he pleaded guilty to just five of those charges — desertion, assault on a non-commissioned officer, and three counts of disobeying an officer — as part of an agreement that was accepted by a military judge.
"The judge, under the terms of the plea deal, sentenced Travis to one year of confinement, reduction in rank to private (E-1), forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a dishonourable discharge," a statement from King's attorney, Franklin Rosenblatt, said.
"With time already served and credit for good behaviour, Travis is now free and will return home.
"Travis King has faced significant challenges throughout his life, including a difficult upbringing, exposure to criminal environments, and struggles with mental health.
"All these factors have compounded the hardships he faced in the military."
In another statement, the US Army's Office of Special Trial Counsel said that "pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement, all other charges and specifications were dismissed".
"The outcome of today's court martial is a fair and just result that reflects the seriousness of the offences committed by Private King," prosecutor Major Allyson Montgomery said.
How had he come to cross the border?
At the time of the incident, King had been stationed in South Korea and, after a drunken bar fight and a stay in jail, he was supposed to fly back to Texas to face disciplinary hearings.
Instead of getting on the plane, he had walked out of the Seoul-area airport and later joined a sightseeing tour of the Korean border village, Panmunjom.
He had then bolted across the border, which is lined with guards and often crowded with tourists.
Pyongyang had said that King had defected to North Korea to escape "mistreatment and racial discrimination in the US Army".
But after completing its investigation, North Korea "decided to expel" King in September for illegally intruding into its territory.
AFP/ABC
