# American soldier crosses into North Korea **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 18, 2023, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221 "2023-07-18T16:43:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/321 "2023-10-22T08:37:47Z")
Anecdonte time! As it turns out, one of the military types assigned to the United States Embassy in Beijing goes to the same church I do. This morning, I saw him. He told me he was one of those involved in the hand-over of PV2 King at the DPRK-PRC border. He also told me King was quite relieved to no longer be in the DPRK. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/322 "2023-10-22T10:21:48Z")
What was the old Navy recruiting slogan? “Join the Navy; see the world”? The more he sees of the world, the more he likes the plain old USA, warts and all. Even the unhappy end of the Army isn’t so bad by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/323 "2023-10-22T12:33:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > What was the old Navy recruiting slogan? “Join the Navy; see the world”? FAFO applies. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2024, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/324 "2024-07-17T04:58:55Z")
[Update on the case here.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/lawyers-representing-us-soldier-crossed-222719726.html) (The link goes to Yahoo.) > The legal team representing [Pvt. Travis King](https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/20/politics/travis-king-desertion/index.html?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo), the US soldier who ran across the border from South to North Korea last year, is in plea negotiations with military prosecutors, according to King’s attorney. > > King was expected to face an Article 32 hearing, which is a preliminary hearing in a military court, on Tuesday at Fort Bliss, Texas, but the hearing was delayed, according to a spokeswoman for the Army’s Office of Special Trial Counsel. King’s attorney, Frank Rosenblatt, told CNN in a phone call that the delay was the result of a joint request from both sides as negotiations are ongoing. And it turns out the Army’s outsourced the stockade. (Same link as above.) > He is now being held in a detention center in New Mexico that is run by a company contracted by the Army, Rosenblatt said. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/325 "2024-08-27T17:20:17Z")
It’s resolved. He got pretty lucky the military dropped so many charges. I hope attending counseling is part of the sentence. He’s very troubled. > **[Travis King, U.S. Army private who ran into North Korea, to plead guilty to...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/travis-king-us-army-private-dashed-north-korea-plead-guilty-desertion-rcna168336)** > > The case against Travis King, released by North Korea after the incursion, will be reduced from 14 alleged offenses to five, one of his lawyers said. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/326 "2024-08-27T20:41:48Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It’s resolved. He got pretty lucky the military dropped so many charges. > > I hope attending counseling is part of the sentence. He’s very troubled. > > [Travis King, U.S. Army private who ran into North Korea, to plead guilty to desertion](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/travis-king-us-army-private-dashed-north-korea-plead-guilty-desertion-rcna168336) It’s not luck. Even the military would rather plea bargain than go through the trouble of having a trial. I doubt there was any chance of a not guilty verdict but as long as they get what they want out of it there is no need to push for more. I would guess they were satisfied with a dishonorable discharge and some jail time. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/327 "2024-08-27T20:41:51Z")
I wonder if “lesson learned the hard way” factored into that - pretty sure that Travis King discovered that, for all its flaws (and there are plenty) the US is still better than North Korea and running away doesn’t solve your problems. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/328 "2024-08-27T20:47:42Z")
Yeah, I don’t know what would have been gained through a tougher sentence. He’s obviously not all there, and I can’t imagine that there are other servicemen who would look on King’s experience and think, “Wow, he got off light, I think I’ll give defecting to North Korea a try!” ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/329 "2024-08-27T21:07:40Z")
I was referring to the child porn charges. There was one charge for possession and another for soliciting the material. Anyway, the prosecution cut the deal they needed. That material may have been a magazine he bought in Korea. I recall the legal age for models in Korea and Japan is younger than the US. He still shouldn’t have bought it. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/330 "2024-08-27T21:28:42Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > That material may have been a magazine he bought in Korea. I recall the legal age for models in Korea and Japan is younger than the US. He still shouldn’t have bought it. You think that child porn is legal in North Korea? And gets distributed freely (a word that doesn’t even exist there)? I cannot in any way imagine that _any_ kind of porn is legal there, crazy authoritarian regimes have always been very harsh on even regular porn, because morals, and NK probably is the craziest of them all. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/331 "2024-08-27T21:33:05Z")
In North Korea, you’re only allowed to jack off to pictures of Kim Jong Un. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/332 "2024-08-27T21:38:28Z")
But not to his sister? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/333 "2024-08-27T21:38:34Z")
I don’t fancy the chances in South Korea or Japan, either. Any “magazine” with underage children would not be legal in either country, and they’re both more straitlaced in some respects about it than the US. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/334 "2024-08-29T18:50:25Z")
Totally agree. I’ve always said I’d rather live in a country where people try to sneak into it than one where people try to sneal out. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/335 "2024-08-31T13:04:09Z")
The pornography charge came from soliciting a minor over Snapchat. Presumably he possessed some material on his phone from that solicitation. [https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-army-charges-private-travis-king-with-desertion-over-dash-into-north-korea-2023-10-20/](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-army-charges-private-travis-king-with-desertion-over-dash-into-north-korea-2023-10-20/) ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/336 "2024-09-21T00:18:16Z")
The results are in. One year and a dishonorable discharge for desertion and assault: > **[US soldier who fled to North Korea sentenced to one year in confinement...](https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/20/politics/travis-king-sentenced-desertion-north-korea/index.html)** > > The US soldier who ran across the border from South to North Korea last year was sentenced Friday to one year in confinement and dishonorable discharge after pleading guilty to charges of desertion and assault. (Not much else in the article) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/337 "2024-09-21T01:49:31Z")
What a doofus he was. Even the North couldn’t use him. No sympathy here. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/338 "2024-09-21T17:11:34Z")
And this amounts to time served so he is now free: > **[U.S. soldier who crossed into North Korea sentenced to time served](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/us-soldier-crossed-north-korea-sentenced-time-served-rcna172075)** > > Travis King ran from South Korea, across the Demilitarized Zone and into North Korea on July 18, 2023. He was later released by North Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/339 "2024-09-22T05:12:46Z")
The Army is happy to put him in the “Not our problem anymore” file. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221/340 "2024-09-22T15:53:58Z")
Yep. My take exactly. Having had my hand in discharging a few problem children back in the day … It is darn handy for the DoD that they have the whole rest of US society to dump their dregs into. It’s the rest of society that needs a similar dumping ground for dregs other than the very expensive prison system. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-soldier-crosses-into-north-korea/987221.md?page=16)