Abductee spouse Jenkins granted permanent residency status in Japan

0 Comments | Asian Political News, July 14, 2008

TOKYO, July 11 Kyodo

The Japanese government will grant U.S. citizen Charles Jenkins, the husband of a repatriated Japanese abductee to North Korea, permanent residency status, Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama said Friday.

Jenkins, a former U.S. Army sergeant who deserted to North Korea, married Hitomi Soga there and lived in the country almost 40 years, came to Japan with the couple's two North Korean-born daughters in July 2004 after being reunited with Soga in Jakarta.

The Justice Ministry made the decision only half a month after Jenkins applied for the status June 24. Usually, foreign nationals need about six months to obtain permanent residency status.

Hatoyama told a regular news conference that his ministry's screening work went smoothly as no problems were found in the documents Jenkins submitted.

Jenkins, 68, has been living in his wife's hometown on Sado Island in the Sea of Japan since completing a 30-day detention for desertion at a U.S. Army base in Japan.

He acquired temporary residency status as Soga's spouse and is required to renew it every three years. With permanent residency status, Jenkins will not be required to go through further renewals.

Soga, 49, together with four other victims of North Korean abduction, was returned to Japan in October 2002, a month after then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Pyongyang for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

Jenkins spent six years in the U.S. Army before crossing the 38th parallel into North Korea in January 1965 while on duty in South Korea in a bid to avoid serving in Vietnam.