Posted on 07/18/2004 10:08:44 AM PDT by anonymoussierra
An alleged US army deserter who has spent the last 40 years in North Korea is facing an uncertain future after arriving in Japan for medical care. Charles Jenkins, 64, could be turned over to US custody once he has been treated for a stomach complaint.
He flew to Tokyo with his Japanese wife and their two daughters, after a dramatic reunion in Indonesia.
His wife returned to Japan from North Korea in 2002, but Mr Jenkins remained, fearing he would be sought by the US.
Television footage showed a frail Mr Jenkins using a cane as he walked hesitantly down stairs from the airplane to a waiting bus at Tokyo airport.
He is expected to be taken to hospital for urgent medical treatment of a reportedly serious stomach condition, following earlier surgery in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
'Sympathetic'
The US ambassador to Japan, Howard Baker, said on Saturday the US would consider delaying its request for Japan to turn over Mr Jenkins.
He said the US was "sympathetic" to Mr Jenkins' condition, after Japan's Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi urged them to "consider the humanitarian aspects of the case".
On Thursday, a State Department spokesman insisted the US would pursue Mr Jenkins once he arrived in Japan, under a Status of Forces agreement between the two countries.
The reunion between Mr Jenkins, his wife Hitomi Soga, 45, and their two daughters was arranged by Japan to be held in Indonesia - which does not have an extradition agreement with the US.
It was thought to be the first time Mr Jenkins had left North Korea since arriving there in 1965, after disappearing from his US patrol in South Korea.
Mr Jenkins met and married Ms Soga in Pyongyang in 1980.
His wife is one of a group of Japanese who were kidnapped by North Korean secret agents during the 1970s.
They had not seen each other since 2002, when Ms Soga was allowed to return to Japan.
The US Army has charged Mr Jenkins with desertion, but relatives in the US believe that he, like Ms Soga, was kidnapped.
Nothing that 20 years in Leavenworth prison won't cure.
Why didn't he just stay in the glorious Worker's Paradise and avail himself of their generous socialized medical treatment?
The title of the article should read, "John Kerry voter set to enter the United States."
he need to be shot!
Wonder if his peculiar NK shadows are still hovering in the background?
If they screwed up in anyway on this (they sure seemed nervous at first, and rather forced smiles later), then it is clear they will be executed on Kim Jong il's orders.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1173708/posts?page=1
What's your take on this?
Funny then that he left a note saying he was going to North Korea.
That said, the guy had/has to be some kind of a waco to desert to that particular "Worker's Paridise".
I don't like that the article refers to him as "Mr."
He isn't a mister. He's a piece of trash.
However, it is good that the USA has decided to let the Japanese incur the expense of his surgery.
THEN they can NAIL him. :-)
Unfortunately, his wife has suffered greatly and I feel empathy toward her if she was not brainwashed.
The children are probably diehard communists through no fault of their own.
BUT, this dumbox should have thought of all of that before.
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