A U.S. Army private who entered North Korea in 2023 plans to plead guilty to multiple charges, his lawyer said Monday.

Travis King is scheduled to plead guilty to escape, assault and disobeying an officer in court in September. According to King had been in South Korea and was scheduled to return to the United States, but suddenly fled across the military demarcation line into North Korea in July 2023. He was deported last year and arrested by U.S. troops for illegally entering North Korea. (Related: Pentagon knew about Osprey flaws almost a decade before fatal crash)

King was also charged in a military court with other offenses, including soliciting and possessing child pornography. According to To Axios.

“He will plead not guilty to the remaining charges, which the Army will withdraw and dismiss,” King's lawyers said Monday. “Travis' guilty plea will be entered at a court-martial, where he will be asked to explain what he did, answer questions from a military judge and give his reasons for pleading guilty, and then be sentenced.”

My Statement Today Regarding the Court-Martial of U.S. Army Pvt. Travis King pic.twitter.com/jVeGiGdxuq

— Franklin D. Rosenblatt (@frankrosenblatt) August 26, 2024

King was undergoing disciplinary action from the Army when he defected to North Korea in 2023. He had just been released from a South Korean prison after being arrested for resisting law enforcement and yelling foul language against South Korea.

King was immediately arrested by North Korean authorities and then transferred to U.S. authorities in China, where he was detained, and then flown back to the United States in September 2023.

It remains unclear why King traveled to North Korea, although a representative for his family previously said King had been sending “unusual” and “strange” text messages to his family before the July 2023 incident.

The Army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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