US Soldier Who Defected to North Korea Will Plead Guilty to Desertion
The Facts
Travis King, the US Army private who ran across the South Korean border into North Korea last year, is expected to plead guilty to five charges, including desertion and assaulting an officer, according to the soldier's attorney, Franklin D. Rosenblatt.
As part of the plea deal, nine other charges will be dropped, including possession of child pornography, which was connected to allegations that he tried to solicit such material over the social media app Snapchat.
The Spin
King was facing a long list of serious charges that could have resulted in a far more severe punishment. However, due to the mental stress he was under at the time of his crimes, most likely due to the death of of his cousin, King deserves this plea agreement given the mental stress. Both the Army and the King family are equally grateful to bring this ordeal to a close.
We shouldn't allow the military to control the narrative of this very fishy story. Whatever King was running from, whether it be racism or some sort of intelligence operation, the accusations of child sex crimes should set alarm bells off. The government is known to plant such material on people's devices when it wants to silence them, so that part of the story should be investigated further.
