The Soga family reunited
The Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo
Now the United States should come to the party.
Hitomi Soga, who was abducted by North Korea and returned to Japan in 2002, was finally reunited with her husband Charles Jenkins on Friday. They hugged each other tightly in Jakarta against a backdrop of bougainvillea flowers.
Soga and Jenkins survived the rift between their home countries and North Korea, and raised two children. The mother and daughters were together again for the first time in a year and nine months. People all over Japan must be celebrating the much-publicized reunion.
Elder daughter Mika, who descended the stairs from the airplane with tears in her eyes, turned 21 last month. Belinda will turn 19 on July 23. One of Soga's wishes has come true-she wanted to celebrate Belinda's birthday with the entire family.
Soga was looking forward to making her family's favorite curry dishes. The family is probably having a joyous time at the dinner table, talking about what has transpired during their separation over her homemade cooking.
What an extraordinary life the couple has had-he has been branded a deserter by his native country, and she was abducted from hers.
Jenkins allegedly deserted to North Korea in 1965 when he was a United States Army sergeant. He was stationed in South Korea to defend against any North Korean attack against the South. Jenkins disappeared during a patrol near the 38th parallel. Soon after, North Korea announced by radio that it had given him asylum. Jenkins has reportedly spoken in North Korean propaganda broadcasts to encourage U.S. soldiers to defect and appeared in propaganda films.
Meanwhile, in 1978 Soga stepped out of her house one day to go shopping in her hometown in Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture, when someone put a bag over her head and smuggled her to North Korea. That was 13 years after Jenkins had been given asylum. Soga's mother Miyoshi was also abducted at the same time, but her whereabouts remain a mystery.
Soga met Jenkins when he was teaching English. She said that Jenkins explained that the U.S. Army was going to send him to fight in Vietnam, so he fled to North Korea.
Soga was stripped from her hometown and parents, and after she returned to Japan, she was again separated from her family. She wants to live with her husband and daughters in Japan. However, the United States lists Jenkins as a deserter, and maintains he will face a court-martial.
Japan and the United States have an agreement to hand over U.S. soldiers who are accused of committing crimes, so the possibility of living together here in Japan is still a long way off unless the issue is resolved.
Though Jenkins apparently once abandoned his home country, the air will not be cleared until he faces his own country and makes a settlement for his past actions. We would like to see the United States consider in a benevolent light his age, 64, his historical background and the family's situation.
"My life has become so complicated," said Soga. "The final destination is Japan and I feel like I have taken the first step toward it," she said before leaving for Jakarta.
Her strong determination to reclaim her life and her family, no matter how long it takes, can be felt in her words.