The Story Behind The Story: Charles Robert Jenkins on "60 Minutes"
Here, readers, is the story behind yesterday's "60 Minutes" piece on Charles Robert Jenkins, an army deserter who was imprisoned in North Korea for nearly 40 years. Most "60 Minutes" stories take days, weeks, or months to put together, but the Jenkins story took years of legwork to complete. It began when one of the primary producers, working for another network, was almost derailed by a hurricane and a typhoon, and looked for a long time like it wasn't going to see the light of day. We thought you would be interested in the backstory.
Producer Andy Court, who co-produced the piece with Jill Landes, began working on it in 2002, when he was a producer at NBC's "Dateline." North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had admitted that his country had engaged in the abductions of ordinary Japanese citizens in order to train North Korean spies, and Court noticed that one of those abductees, Hitomi Soga, had married an American deserter named Charles Robert Jenkins while the two were being held captive in North Korea. For a long time, the army hadn't even known if Jenkins was alive or dead. In 1996, however, he turned up as an actor in a North Korean propaganda film. Court was fascinated by the Jenkins story, and he started thinking about how he might be able to do a piece on him.
Landes, meanwhile, who worked for "60 Minutes II" at the time, began working on the story as well, along with then-"60 Minutes II" producer Peter Klein and associate producer Trisha Sorrells. Both Court and Landes' team separately started talking to Jenkins' family members and the North Korean authorities. They were able to develop a relationship with the families, but the North Koreans stonewalled when approached about the possibility of an interview with Jenkins, their prisoner. "It was one of those stories where I thought, this is never, ever going to happen," says Court.
Producer Andy Court, who co-produced the piece with Jill Landes, began working on it in 2002, when he was a producer at NBC's "Dateline." North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had admitted that his country had engaged in the abductions of ordinary Japanese citizens in order to train North Korean spies, and Court noticed that one of those abductees, Hitomi Soga, had married an American deserter named Charles Robert Jenkins while the two were being held captive in North Korea. For a long time, the army hadn't even known if Jenkins was alive or dead. In 1996, however, he turned up as an actor in a North Korean propaganda film. Court was fascinated by the Jenkins story, and he started thinking about how he might be able to do a piece on him.
Landes, meanwhile, who worked for "60 Minutes II" at the time, began working on the story as well, along with then-"60 Minutes II" producer Peter Klein and associate producer Trisha Sorrells. Both Court and Landes' team separately started talking to Jenkins' family members and the North Korean authorities. They were able to develop a relationship with the families, but the North Koreans stonewalled when approached about the possibility of an interview with Jenkins, their prisoner. "It was one of those stories where I thought, this is never, ever going to happen," says Court.
