We report on near IR ( J and K bands ) observations of an 8 ^ { \prime } \times 8 ^ { \prime } region centered on the poorly studied open cluster King 5 , for which only optical photometry existed .
Photometry of two nearby fields is also reported .
We found that the cluster is of moderate age ( 1.0 ~ { } Gyr old ) , intermediate in age between the Hyades and NGC 752 .
Combining optical and IR photometry we obtain estimates for the cluster parameters .
The color excesses E ( J-K ) , E ( V-I ) and E ( V-K ) are 0.50 , 1.10 and 2.45 , respectively .
The true distance modulus turns out to be ( m - M ) _ { o } ~ { } = ~ { } 11.40 \pm 0.15 .
As a consequence , King 5 is 1.9 kpc far from the Sun .