Indonesia to host special reunion<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia has become the place for a special reunion, with North
\nKorea allowing a family split up by Cold War abductions to
\ncelebrate their daughter's 19th birthday in the country.<\/p>\n
The mother of the family now lives in Japan after she was
\nrepatriated there in 2002, after being abducted by Pyonyang
\nagents 24 years earlier.<\/p>\n
North Korean counterpart Paek Nam-sun assured her Japanese
\ncounterpart Yoriko Kawaguchi on Wednesday her government would
\nallow the girl's father, U.S. Army deserter and defector Charles
\nRobert Jenkins, and his two daughters to travel from North Korea
\nto Indonesia and meet their Japanese wife and mother, Hitomi
\nSoga.<\/p>\n
The family is expected to celebrate the birthday of daughter,
\nBelinda, on July 23 in Indonesia, possibly in Bali or in Bogor,
\nWest Java.<\/p>\n
"We were told that Mr. Jenkins has agreed to a reunion in
\nIndonesia," Kawaguchi said after meeting with Paek at the JW
\nMarriot Hotel in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said the Japanese
\nforeign minister had asked Indonesia whether it was ready to
\nfacilitate the reunion. "We reiterated that for humanitarian
\nreasons we are ready to do so," Hassan said.<\/p>\n
A Japanese official disclosed Jenkins had agreed to go to
\nIndonesia because the country did not have an extradition treaty
\nwith the U.S., which insisted on prosecuting him for his
\ndesertion in 1964.<\/p>\n
"I am very happy to hear the results of the Japan-North Korea
\ntalks," Soga said.<\/p>\n
The couple married in 1989. Pyongyang abducted Soga when she
\nwas still 19 years old in 1978 along with a group of Japanese
\ncitizens. In October 2002, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro
\nKoizumi succeeded in persuading then-North Korean President Kim
\nJong-il to release Soga and other Japanese citizens abducted by
\nthe regime.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in related matters, President Megawati Soekarnoputri
\nmet with Paek and South Korean counterpart Ban Ki-moon on
\nThursday a day after their scheduled meeting to discuss the North
\nKorean nuclear issue. In a statement issued after the meeting
\nthey said,"In keeping with the spirit of the South-North Joint
\nDeclaration, the two sides concurred on the need to intensify
\nexchanges and cooperation."<\/p>\n
Six-party nuclear talks will be held in Beijing September and
\nwill be attended by North Korea, South Korea, Japan, China, the
\nU.S. and Russia.<\/p>\n
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is in Jakarta to
\nattend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), indicated he was unlikely
\nto meet with Paek on the sidelines of the forum on Friday.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-to-host-special-reunion-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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