Jenkins to publish autobiography, signed up with Time bureau chief

Japan Policy & Politics, Feb 28, 2005

NIIGATA, Japan, Feb. 25 Kyodo

Charles Jenkins, whose wife is former Japanese abductee to North Korea Hitomi Soga, has decided to publish an autobiography, sources close to him said Friday.

Jenkins, 65, signed up with Time magazine's Tokyo bureau chief Jim Frederick, who will write the book based on interviews with him. The book will cover Jenkins' life at large, including his 1965 desertion to North Korea, events there, and his life in Japan since he came to his wife's homeland last July.

The publisher, the date of publication and the amount of the contract have yet to be decided, the sources said.

Time earlier issued an article based on an interview with Jenkins after he and his daughters reunited with Soga, who had returned to Japan in October 2002 along with four other Japanese abduction victims.

In the article, Jenkins, a former U.S. Army sergeant, described his desertion to North Korea from his army post in South Korea as ''the stupidest thing I have ever done.''

As for meeting Soga, Jenkins was quoted as saying, ''When I met her, my life changed a lot. Me and her together -- I knew we could make it in North Korea.''

Of his decision to go to North Korea, Jenkins said, ''I made a big mistake of my life,'' but added, ''getting my daughters out of there, that was one right thing I did.''

Jenkins is preparing to visit his hometown in North Carolina to meet with his 91-year-old mother.