Alleged Deserter Back In The Army

It was a pretty typical schedule for a sergeant on his first duty day at a new post — he reported to his unit commander at 8:30 Monday morning, got a haircut, and checked out base housing for his family.

But Charles Robert Jenkins is no typical soldier.

Back in the military after nearly 40 years in North Korea, the American is accused of deserting his patrol along the Demilitarized Zone in January, 1965, defecting and aiding one of the world's most secretive and xenophobic governments.

Jenkins, with his Japanese wife and daughters at his side, surrendered to U.S. Army officials at a base just south of Tokyo on Saturday. After two days off, he reported to his new unit on Monday, according to Army spokesman Maj. John Amberg.

"This was his first day on duty," Amberg said.

Along with being a bizarre remnant of the Cold War era, Jenkins' case is generating huge interest in Japan because his wife is something of a tragic hero here. She was abducted by the North in 1978 and finally allowed to come home two years ago.

Army officials have been careful to go by the book with Jenkins.

They refused to disclose details of his activities on base over the weekend, and had no comment on the case against him.

"The legal process is moving forward," Amberg said.

Amberg said Jenkins, 64, has expressed gratitude for the treatment he has received since his surrender.

No date has been set for the beginning of Jenkins' court martial.

Though courts martial are often concluded in a matter of days, U.S. military legal experts say it could take several months for a verdict to be rendered because of the complexity of the case itself and of the logistics of holding it here.

Jenkins has the choice of being tried before a judge, or by a jury composed of either officers or a mixture of officers and enlisted personnel.

Pending the trial, Jenkins will be doing administrative duties — most likely filing paperwork, according to his commander, Col. Garland Williams. Williams said his specific duties will be determined after the Army has assessed his abilities.

While on base, Jenkins is living in temporary housing with his wife, Hitomi Soga, and their two North Korea-born daughters, Mika and Brinda. Both of his daughters were college students in the North before they came here.

Because of his wife's tragic story, public opinion strongly favors leniency for Jenkins so that the family can live quietly in Japan.

Soga met and married Jenkins two years after she was abducted and taken to the North in 1978 by North Korean spies. She and four other surviving abductees were allowed to return to Japan after a landmark summit in Pyongyang between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

Jenkins and his daughters stayed behind. But, facing a huge outpouring of sympathy for Soga, Koizumi personally convinced Kim to allow a reunion of the family in Indonesia in July. The family was then whisked to Japan, ostensibly because Jenkins needed emergency medical care.

He stayed in a Tokyo hospital for nearly two months before voluntarily surrendering.

Army medical officials refused to comment on his health.

By Eric Talmadge