LEAD: Chronology of major events related to Jenkins

Japan Policy & Politics, Nov 29, 2004

TOKYO, Nov. 27 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING LAST ITEM)

Chronology of major events related to U.S. Army deserter Charles Jenkins, the husband of repatriated Japanese abductee Hitomi Soga.

1965 -- Jenkins crosses into North Korea from South Korea while serving near the demilitarized zone. U.S. forces charge him with deserting, aiding the enemy, encouraging disloyalty and soliciting other personnel to desert.

Aug. 12, 1978 -- Soga abducted to North Korea.

Aug. 8, 1980 -- Jenkins and Soga marry in North Korea.

Sept. 17, 2002 -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il hold a summit in Pyongyang. The North apologizes for abducting Soga and other Japanese citizens.

Oct. 15, 2002 -- Soga and four other abductees return to Japan for the first time in 24 years.

Oct. 24, 2002 -- The Japanese government decides on a policy to have the five returnees live permanently in Japan and their eight family members remaining in North Korea also come to Japan.

May 22, 2004 -- Koizumi holds a second summit with Kim in Pyongyang. Five children of the two repatriated couples are reunited with their parents in Japan, while Jenkins refuses to go to Japan despite Koizumi's assurances. Kim suggests a family reunion in a third country.

July 9 -- Soga's family is reunited for the first time in 21 months in Jakarta after Jenkins and the couple's two daughters, Mika and Brinda, fly from North Korea.

July 18 -- The family arrives in Tokyo from Jakarta for Jenkins to undergo medical treatment at a Tokyo hospital.

Sept. 1 -- Jenkins releases a statement, saying he will voluntarily report to the U.S. Army's Camp Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture and face his charges.

Sept. 11 -- Jenkins turns himself in at Camp Zama. He is accompanied by his family.

Sept. 13 -- Jenkins starts legal process.

Nov. 3 -- Jenkins given 30 days in confinement and a dishonorable discharge from the U.S. Army after a court-martial at Camp Zama.

Nov. 27 -- Jenkins released from a military jail at the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa Prefecture and taken back to Camp Zama to go through procedures for a dishonorable discharge.