TOKYO, July 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. soldier who spent nearly 40 years in North Korea after defecting there will arrive in Japan Sunday, a senior Japanese official said Friday.
Charles Jenkins, who is accused of deserting his troop in 1965 in order to avoid being drafted to Vietnam, will be flown into Tokyo from Jakarta to receive medical treatment, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda.
"This is an emergency, humanitarian measure," Hosoda said.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States would continue discussions with the Japanese.
"We understand the family considerations and the humanitarian situation," he said. "We also understand that he faces potentially serious charges and that he will be entering a place where the United States can and will seek legal jurisdiction."
Under the Status of Forces agreement, Japan has to hand over Jenkins to the United States. But Jenkins is married to Hitomi Soga, a Japanese national who was abducted by North Korean agents in 1978. Soga returned to Japan in 2002.
The family was reunited in Jakarta last week.
