Letter to the editor: Soldier who ran to North Korea deserves to serve time

OPINION:

It has been over a year since U.S. Army Pvt. Travis King ran into North Korea while he was pending court-martial on several other charges. The Biden administration negotiated with North Korea to get him back. Why? We should just have asked the country to return him when they were done prosecuting him and he had completed any prison sentence he’d been given. Once AWOL, always AWOL — until returned to the military.

At the time of his entry into North Korea, King had just been released from a South Korean jail for assaulting a South Korean citizen, a charge to which he pleaded guilty. He was supposed to be on a flight back to the U.S. to be court-martialed for other crimes when he decided instead to run into North Korea. I am guessing South Korea had declared him persona non grata and ordered him deported under our Status of Forces Agreement with South Korea. If King had been returned to South Korea, it could have prosecuted him for illegally entering the country.

What is there to make a plea deal about anyway? Take him to trial and let him plead guilty or not guilty, then prove the charges. Knowing our “woke” military, his deal will be time served and a bad conduct discharge. He should get at least five years of confinement.

I dealt with dozens of desertion cases in the Navy in the 1980s and hundreds in the Army in the late 1970s. They are slam-dunk, easy convictions.

King’s family hired a civilian lawyer, which is a total waste of money as the free Army JAGC lawyer will do the work. I am guessing the private attorney is being crowdfunded with donations. Usually criminal defense lawyers require at least $50,000 up front as a nonrefundable retainer.

Many years ago I saw a mother have to remortgage her house as collateral in lieu of paying her sailor son’s lawyer up front. He thought he could beat the charges I drafted against him and was going to use his separation money to pay the lawyer. He was convicted and thus did not get any separation pay. His mother later wrote her congressman about this, and I had the honor of replying. As I explained, her son had done this to himself and his mother fell for his lies.

I hope King’s mother has not put up her house as collateral. I imagine when the Army is done with him, he will be arrested within a year by our local cops.

Cmdr. WAYNE L. JOHNSON

Judge Advocate General’s Corps, U.S. Navy (retired)

Alexandria, Virginia