Charles Jenkins arrives in Japan

Published: July 18, 2004 at 9:36 AM

TOKYO, July 18 (UPI) -- Charles Robert Jenkins, the husband of Japanese abduction victim Hitomi Soga, arrived in Tokyo Sunday and was immediately hospitalized.

The Mainichi Daily News reported Jenkins had refused to go to Japan for fear he'd be extradited to the United States for deserting the U.S. military in 1965 and defecting to North Korea. He changed his mind when Japanese officials assured him he would not face extradition.

U.S. Ambassador Howard Baker Jr. has said Washington has no intention of demanding Jenkins be extradited while he is in the hospital.

Soga, abducted by the North Korean in 1978 from her home in Japan, married Jenkins in North Korea where they had two daughters.

She returned to Japan along with four other Japanese abduction victims in October 2002.

The family was reunited in Jakarta, Indonesia, 10 days ago.

Topics: Charles Jenkins, Robert Jenkins

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Charles Jenkins arrives in Japan