TOKYO, May 24 (UPI) -- Prime Minster Junichiro Koizumi reportedly assured a U.S. deserter in North Korea he would not be returned to the United States if he came to Japan.
Charles Jenkins, the husband of former Japanese abductee Hitomi Soga, was given a written assurances by Koizumi that he would not be sent to the United States if he came to Japan, the Mainichi Daily News reported Monday.
Quoting sources, the report said Koizumi handed over the pledge during a meeting Saturday with Jenkins in North Korea after talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Jenkins daughters, aged 18 and 20, were also at the meeting.
Jenkins reportedly had said he would be prosecuted for desertion if he came to Japan. Koizumi tried to persuade him to come to Japan anyway, saying, "You won't be sent to the United States without Japan's consent. I guarantee it."
Despite the pledge, Jenkins did not return with Koizumi. The Japanese and North Korean governments plan to help Jenkins and his daughters to meet with Soga in a third country, perhaps Russia.
