US soldier Travis King has been charged with desertion for his illegal entry into North Korea from the demilitarized zone, US media reported on Thursday.
According to a document published by several American media outlets, the American army filed eight charges against this soldier, who was stationed in South Korea at the time, including assault on other soldiers and possession of child pornography. He is also charged with making false statements and illegal possession of alcohol.
Desertion can result in up to three years in prison.
After a drunken bar fight that led to him being held in a South Korean prison, Private King was scheduled to return to the United States in July.
However, he managed to leave the Seoul-area airport, take a sightseeing tour of the demilitarized zone and cross the heavily fortified border into North Korea, where he was arrested by communist authorities.
Pyongyang said the soldier defected to escape “abuse and racial discrimination within the U.S. military.”
But after completing its investigation, North Korea “decided” in September to expel King for illegally entering its territory.
A Pentagon spokeswoman, Sabrina Singh, said King, who returned to the U.S. in late September, must undergo a “reintegration program” that includes medical examinations and mental health assessments.
The two Koreas have technically still been at war since the end of the peninsular conflict in 1953, which ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, and their shared border is particularly fortified.