U.S. govt to seek custody of alleged Army deserter
U.S. govt to seek custody of alleged Army deserter
Agencies, Washington/Jakarta/Tokyo
The United States will ask the Japanese government for custody of an alleged Army deserter if he arrives in the country for medical treatment, the State Department said on Thursday.
Charles Jenkins, 64, who fled his Army unit near the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea in 1965 and has lived in North Korea ever since, is expected to arrive in Japan in the near future.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States intends to use a military pact between the two countries to request he be turned over to the United States.
"Mr. Jenkins is a deserter from the U.S. Army," Boucher said. "He's been charged with extremely serious offenses."
"Status of Forces Agreement gives us the right to request custody of Sergeant Jenkins, and we intend to request custody when we have the legal opportunity to do so," he said, referring to the military agreement.
Meanwhile, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told reporters in Tokyo that on Sunday the ailing Jenkins would leave Jakarta, where he has spent the past week after an emotional reunion with his wife Soga.
"As a humanitarian measure we have decided to transfer Mr Jenkins and his family to Japan on July 18, and upon arrival at the airport, he will be immediately transferred to a hospital in Tokyo," Hosada said on Friday.
Jenkins himself still has "some concerns" but has clearly decided to go to Japan, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official Akitaka Saiki of the told reporters in Jakarta.
He said Jenkins took the decision after a long discussion with his wife.
"Mrs Soga and Mr Jenkins clearly stated that they have decided to go to Japan with all their family," Saiki said.
North Korean officials who accompanied Jenkins to Jakarta met him on Friday and Japanese media said Jenkins gave the officials his North Korean banknotes, saying he no longer needed them.
One North Korean official told reporters they respected the family's decision to go to Japan.
"It is because we know well the sorrows of divided families and we want, wherever it may be, families to live together," he said in Jakarta after the meeting.
Three North Koreans and an Indonesian delegation met Jenkins, Japanese officials told reporters.
"Jenkins ... appeared in tears. The Jenkins family conveyed their gratitude to the North Koreans for helping them much over the years," said one official, who declined to be identified.
"Jenkins sent a message to the people who lived around his neighborhood to give away his property like his refrigerator, television and iron because he will not come back."
The official said the family welcomed the plan to fly to Tokyo. "When Jenkins knew that the four of them could go to Japan on the 18th, he appeared happy.
"He will be counted as a foreigner while his wife and two children hold Japanese citizenship."
Following high level talks between Japan and North Korea, Jenkins was allowed to fly out of Pyongyang with his daughters, aged 18 and 21, to Indonesia last Friday. Three North Korean officials accompanied Jenkins on the flight.
Japan arranged the third-country meeting in Indonesia to avoid the risk of the United States prosecuting Jenkins for desertion. Indonesia does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S.
Soga said in a statement on Thursday that the family is "very much worried" about Jenkins' health and she hoped to live in Japan with her family.