American refuses offer to return

PYONGYANG, North Korea - Nearly 40 years ago, Charles Robert Jenkins allegedly deserted his U.S. Army unit to start a new life in North Korea. He taught English, acted in propaganda films, married a woman 20 years his junior and had two daughters.

Then, two years ago, his life started to fall apart.

In an unprecedented summit with Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il admitted in September 2002 that Jenkins' wife, Hitomi Soga, had been abducted and brought to the North against her will. With four other abductees, she was allowed to return home.

But what North Korea claimed was supposed to be a short homecoming became a prolonged political tug of war, with Tokyo refusing to send Soga and the others back, and Pyongyang keeping their families virtually hostage.

For the other families, that saga ended Saturday: Koizumi returned for his second summit with Kim and won the freedom of the five abductees' North Korea-born children. Jenkins refused to leave.

"Kim said he would leave the decision up to Jenkins," Koizumi said. "I met with Jenkins and his daughters for an hour after the summit. But I was unable to sway him."

The fate of Jenkins is a major issue in Japan, mainly because of an outpouring of sympathy for his wife, who has lived alone in her hometown on a small island since her return one month after the 2002 summit.

Before leaving for Pyongyang, Koizumi vowed to bring home all the relatives - including Jenkins and his daughters. But officials said Jenkins balked at the plan because he fears he would be extradited to the United States to face a court-martial.

Little is known about Jenkins.

According to American military officials, he was a 24-year-old sergeant when he left a border patrol on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone to defect to the North. For defecting, the North Korean government gave him a car and a job teaching English.

Jenkins, a native of Rich Square, N.C., a small town near Raleigh, also acted in low-budget propaganda films. In one, he wore a skinhead wig to portray an evil American.

Tokyo has asked Washington to give him special consideration, and perhaps a pardon. But U.S. officials, wary of taking such an action while soldiers are risking their lives in Iraq, have provided no such guarantees.

"I'm sympathetic from a human point of view," U.S. Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker said. "But he's classified as a deserter."

Koizumi suggested if Jenkins was afraid of going to Japan, he meet to discuss his future with Soga in a third country, such as China.

"I hope all four them will be able to be reunited as soon as possible," he said. "Jenkins said he welcomed that idea."

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