A court hearing for a soldier charged with fleeing to North Korea last year was delayed as negotiations between his legal team and the Army are now underway, a lawyer for the service member confirmed.
An early court proceeding known as an Article 32 hearing did not occur as initially planned on Tuesday for Pvt. Travis King, his attorney, Frank Rosenblatt, told Military Times.
A new date for the preliminary hearing — where evidence is presented to an officer who reviews the charges and makes a recommendation on if the case should move forward to a court-martial — has not yet been scheduled, Rosenblatt added.
“If those negotiations are successful then it would obviate the need to have the Article 32,” Rosenblatt said.
King ran across the border from South Korea in July 2023 and was held for about two months — the first American detained in North Korea in years — before returning to the United States where he faces charges under the military justice system.
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The commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division preferred eight charges and 14 specifications against King in October, according to Michelle McCaskill, a spokesperson for the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel. She noted that her office exercised authority over the case on July 10.
Those specifications include one of attempted escape from custody, two of solicitation, one of desertion, five of disobeying a superior commissioned officer, two of assault on a noncommissioned officer, one of a false official statement, one of assault consummated by battery and one of possession of child pornography with intent to distribute in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, McCaskill said.
A cavalry scout on rotation in South Korea as part of the 1st Armored Division, King was being sent to Fort Bliss, Texas, after being released for serving time over assault charges, The Associated Press previously reported. But instead of getting on a plane, he joined a tour of a Korean border village and bolted across the border, the outlet said.
King returned to the United States in September and spent time at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, undergoing reintegration, the soldier’s attorney said. King has been detained at a facility in New Mexico, he added.
North Korean state media suggested that the Army private decided to enter North Korea because he “harbored ill feelings against inhuman mistreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army,” The Associated Press reported, noting that there was no immediate verification that he actually made any such comments.
Jonathan is a staff writer and editor of the Early Bird Brief newsletter for Military Times. Follow him on Twitter @lehrfeld_media
