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U.S. to seek custody of `deserter'

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: Japan has been sounded out by the United States for the possible transfer of its military `deserter' to its own custody. The case concerns Charles Jenkins, who is suspected to have deserted the U.S. forces stationed on the South Korean side of de-militarised zone and crossed over to North Korea sometime in the 1960s. Mr. Jenkins, formerly a sergeant, was reported to have reached Tokyo on Sunday for medical treatment there, along with his Japanese wife, Hitomi Soga, and their two daughters. They reached Tokyo from Jakarta, where Mr. Jenkins and the two daughters had first gone on being repatriated from North Korea on July 9. They were joined there by Ms. Soga, who was repatriated in 2002, along with several other Japanese nationals, under an agreement reached between the Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il. All these Japanese nationals were abducted by North Korean agents at the height of the Cold War. After meeting the Japanese Foreign Minister, Yoriko Kawaguchi, in Tokyo, the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Howard H. Baker, said in a statement that Washington "has the right to request custody of Sgt. Jenkins and will do so at the appropriate time". Mr. Jenkins "has been charged with desertion and other serious offences under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and ... he is still on active duty as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces".

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