US soldier who 'wilfully' fled to North Korea held; charged with desertion among other crimes

Washington DC [US], October 20 (ANI): Travis King, the US Army private who fled to North Korea in July, has been charged by the US Army with a total of eight crimes including desertion, CNN reported on Friday citing charging documents.
King, who was released from North Korean custody and returned to the US last month, was charged with a series of other alleged offences, including possession of child pornography, assaulting fellow soldiers, and disobeying a superior officer, according to the document, according to CNN.
King (23) was detained on Wednesday at Ft. Bliss, Texas, and is being held in pre-trial detention, CNN reported citing sources.
Claudine Gates, the mother of Travis King said in a statement that she is "extremely concerned about his mental health."
"As his mother, I ask that my son be afforded the presumption of innocence," Gates said.
"A mother knows her son, and I believe something happened to mine while he was deployed. The Army promised to investigate what happened at Camp Humphries, and I await the results," CNN quoted her as saying
Meanwhile, King returned to US soil in late September after US officials said he "willfully and without authorization" crossed into North Korea in July.
Shortly before fleeing, King had been released from detention in South Korea related to an October 2022 incident in which he allegedly pushed and punched a victim in the face at a club in Seoul, according to court documents, CNN reported.
King was supposed to board a flight to Texas where he was to face disciplinary procedures, but when he was released at a security checkpoint at the airport in Seoul, King left and the next day joined a tour of the Joint Security Area in the demilitarized zone, from which he fled across the demarcation line into North Korea. (ANI)