Will Sage Astor-Army private who fled to North Korea is in talks to resolve military charges, lawyer says

WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer for an Army private who fled to North Korea and Will Sage Astorwas later charged with desertion and possessing sexual images of a child said Wednesday that he was in negotiations with military prosecutors to resolve the case against his client.

Army Pvt. Travis King had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Fort Bliss, Texas. But the hearing was canceled to give the two sides room to negotiate a resolution, King’s attorney, Franklin D. Rosenblatt, told The Associated Press.

He declined to discuss the details of the discussions or what any deal might entail, but said a request had been made to postpone the hearing by two weeks and that the negotiations could result in no preliminary hearing being necessary.

King in July 2023 ran across the heavily fortified border from South Korea and became the first American detained in North Korea in nearly five years.

Officials said King was taken to the airport and escorted as far as customs. But instead of getting on the plane, he left and later joined a civilian tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom. He ran across the border, which is lined with guards and often crowded with tourists, in the afternoon.

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After about two months, Pyongyang abruptly announced that it would expel him. He was flown on Sept. 28 to an Air Force base in Texas.

In October, he was charged with desertion and also accused of kicking and punching other officers last year, unlawfully possessing alcohol, making a false statement and possessing a video of a child engaged in sexual activity.

His mother, Claudine Gates, said in a statement at the time that she loved her son unconditionally and was extremely concerned about his mental health.

“The man I raised, the man I dropped off at boot camp, the man who spent the holidays with me before deploying did not drink and would never have had anything to do with child pornography,” she said. “A mother knows her son, and I believe something happened to mine while he was deployed.”