Should mention something about it, as it’s the big news of the day — Charles Jenkins, the U.S. Army deserter who has spent the last 40 years living in the Workers Paradise otherwise known as the DPRK, flew to Jakarta with his two daughters to meet his wife Hitomi Soga, a former Japanese guest of the North Korean state who returned to her native land in December 2002. I don’t have much to say about this. Yes, I think Washington should allow the guy to go to Japan so he can rejoin his wife, but only as a political favor to Koizumi. The guy was a serving U.S. soldier who not only deserted his unit, but also defected to a hostile power, where he has spent the last forty years teaching North Korean operatives English, making propaganda films and otherwise leading a rather privileged existence (by North Korean standards) in return for serving one of the most odious regimes ever to disgrace the planet. If it weren’t for the fact that I believe Koizumi’s been too good a trooper not to be given a break here (and let’s face it, Bush needs to value the friends he’s got), I’d be most content to see Jenkins rot in North Korea.
CNN has a profile on Jenkins. A piece on the rather bizarre love story between him and wife Soga Hitomi can be found here. The Asia Times also ran a rather long piece on Jenkins back in June.
Of course, there is also In Support of Charles Robert Jenkins, run by relatives of Mr. Jenkins who seem to believe the American didn’t defect, but rather was kidnapped to North Korea.
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Here’s my take on it: If Charles Jenkins (he was drafted, wasn’t he?) ran away from his unit and defected to North Korea 40 years ago, he’s already served 40 years of pretty hard time. Look at that man: If he was in the Army in 1965 that makes him my father’s age, yet he looks 15 years older. Not just his puny size — there are runts anywhere — but the hard time really shows on his face. Now Charles Jenkins is a little old man, who may or may not have done something the “victim” of which can only be said to be himself. Let him alone. I would support a Presidential pardon for Jenkins, but I can’t imagine it coming from Bush.
Maybe Jenkins would be useful to the US. He possesses a lot of information on the regime. He might know a thing or too.
I’m not sure why theirs is a “bizarre” love story. Who are any of us to comment on someone else’s domestic happiness?
The idea that they lived a “relatively” well-off life in Pyongyang is amusing. In a country where food shortages and starvation was rampant, the family had a pet dog named Blackie, that Soga reports has died since she returned to Japan.
She said that she used to bake her own bread and they would eat it for breakfast every day with *butter and jam*.
The idea that anyone of any politician of any party should pardon Jenkins is repellant. Giving aid and comfort to the enemy is a capital crime, and there should be no question that’s what he did.
Perhaps now that Soga has been through the decompression chamber and returned to the real world, she can talk some sense into her family. She has steadfastly refused to return to North Korea for any reason whatsoever in the face of NK gamesmanship (including video of her husband in a hospital), which suggests she has some steel. Apparently, her daughters think they can still have a good life in North Korea, so maybe she can put some sense into the heads of her two Pollyannas and remind them that people with non-Korean blood are at the bottom of the barrel in NK society, and neither of them has a drop. The government no longer has a use for them. Their pampered upbringing may make it difficult, so we’ll see.
It might be harder to knock some sense into her husband’s head, but he didn’t have any to begin with, so that should be very interesting.
Addenda:
The CNN article says Jenkins lied about his age to enlist.
After his initial tour of duty was up, he reenlisted and got a cash bonus. His friends at the time recall him saying that he had to spend it all at once because he wasn’t coming back.
So much for the excuse that he was drafted, as if that is relevant to begin with.
‘people with non-korean blood are at the bottom of the barrel (in nk).’
and not in japan? you must not really know the japanese.
i find several things odd about this situation. one is the attitude of certain people who are willing to accept at face value north korean assertions that jenkins defected. is it not possible that he was a victim of a snatch operation just like the japanese abductees, one of whom he married, and countless korean fisherman? and the idea of a defector making his way through the dmz without getting a cap busted into his ass defies belief. i admit i know shit about this situation, but why take the nork’s word on this? its not like that crew is know for their trustworthiness. now if he is a defector, isn’t 40 years in pyongyang enough punishment for this crime?
I agree with Brendan on this one. 40 years is a long time… I’m willing to let this guy get a presidential pardon so he doesn’t have to live the last few years of his life as a fugitive.
Mr. Shin Jong-Il — the two daughters have actually Japanese blood floating in their veins, or not? Although they have been educated to to hate the Japanese at all, due to their North Korean upbringing. The press vultures in/ from Japan will observe and report every tiny step of these girls into the world of material affluence in Indonesia (in comparison to the DPRK) or possibly Japan.
BS — The family might have had a more “comfortable” life in the North than the average North Korean family, but have you noticed the added weight of Mrs. Hitomi Soga in the last months? And dogs in Korea are traditionally fed with meal leftovers, if the owner does not belong to the rich, urban “dog-pampering” crowd. At least the Sogas/ Jenkins had enough food to waste it for a doggy.
Mr. Marmot — dude, my oh my, so much leniency and sympathy for (the devil) Koizumi. You’re breaking my heart… sniff, sniff. I hope, you’ll someday overcome your romance with the Japanese rightwing politics-folks. ;)!
Btw, this new comment box size makes me nervous. And no preview button… damn! You know, that I need this function to edit & correct my posts.
“At least the Sogas/ Jenkins had enough food to waste it for a doggy.”
Exactly. In other places in North Korea, Blackie would have been eaten long ago.
“one is the attitude of certain people who are willing to accept at face value north korean assertions that jenkins defected.”
As well as the assertions of the US government, which will not budge. You may write off Rumsfeld as a hard-liner, but Colin Powell ain’t showing any give in his position either. The army says they have letters he left in his barracks saying he was defecting. They’ve obviously got the goods on him if they’re willing to go to this length.
Then there’s common sense. If he was snatched, he would have gotten the hell out with his daughters when Soga got out. But he knows what he did.
And why would NK pamper an abductee and his family with a pet dog and a lifestyle of daily butter and jam? They might reward a defector who appeared in propaganda movies that way, however.
“I?€™m willing to let this guy get a presidential pardon so he doesn?€™t have to live the last few years of his life as a fugitive.”
Why? What did he do that was so wonderful? He made his bed–let him lie in it.
I”m not sure where I stand on this issue, but on an unrelated note, I see you moved on to some comples CSS styling and things are looking great.
I really like the new look a lot.
Addenda #2
This attitude that Jenkins has undergone 40 years of punishment by living in Pyongyang is puzzling.
It should be common knowledge by now that people in the relatively higher levels of NK society have a lifestyle not so different in terms of material goods than comfortable folks in the West. Wherein is his punishment? He was a low ranking enlisted man, and not too bright from all reports, so his life these 40 years has probably been materially as good, if not better, than he otherwise would have had.
Free speech? That’s very easy to live without, particularly if your bread and butter depends on it.
He found a wife that still puts up with him and got a home and job and nice lifestyle in Pyongyang. Some punishment!
Some interesting quotes in the news about this:
>Japan’s top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda, said Tokyo >recently repeated its request for the US not to push for his extradition.
>”But Washington’s response has been rather severe,” he said
Coming from the Japanese government’s top spokesman, these are somewhat strong words. Can they be interpreted as “Hey US, let up a little. Cut this poor fool some slack”?
>”We all saw this as a humanitarian question,” US State Department spokesman Richard >Boucher said.
This is a very interesting quote, and I’m not sure whether to snort, or feel comforted bu that. Any comments?
>”Glad to see that he’s been able to meet with his family, it was emotional.
Ditto here.
>”But it remains that Sgt Jenkins potentially faces serious charges should he be in a >place where he’s subject to US jurisdiction.”
Now comes the really interesting quote. Is anyone seeing what I am seeing here? Am I reading to much into it if I suggest that Boucher is giving Jenkins a very clear warning NOT to go to any country which has an extradition treaty with the US? It seems to me almost like “You’re lucky you got out of North Korea. By all means, live the rest of your life, but don’t let yourself get anywhere near the US.”
Any bets that Soga and Jenkins (and daughters) build a new life in Indonesia?
I would challenge any assertion that for a foreign defector (and therefore, a member of a “suspect class” regardless how much propaganda value was earned from him acting in movies extolling the State), life in Pyongyang from 1965 to today could have been a horn ‘o plenty. That man’s been in prison for 40 years!
In that time, we’ve all gotten to see “I Spy” and “Get Smart”, followed by a family game of Pong at home, Asteroids and Gravitar in the arcades. Everyone’s gotten a home computer, the Internet, and broadband pornography. Cell phones have shrunk to the size of a lipstick container (with a video camera included, to boot) — and the phone company pays you to take it. Food is so cheap our poor people weigh 500 to 1000 pounds! Cheap as milk is, GASOLINE is even cheaper! Huge blocks of government cheese rot away in warehouses because nobody will eat it, even for free. And an “average” house now is 2500-3000 sq. ft., with an average of three televisions and three cars. There are more cars than there are drivers in the United States.
Meanwhile Jenkins has been in Pyongyang where a super treat is an ice cold bottle of Coke (which arrived in 1999) and there are men following him around at night when he goes out for a stroll. If he had to lie about his age to enlist in 1955, and was supposedly 24 at the time of his disappearance. That would make him just about 65 now. He sure looks great for a man of 65, doesn’t he?
Leave him be — he’s done his time, and if he did defect he’s about to get the wake up call to tell him what a mistake he made. What good will it do to kick that little old man around some more?
By the way, Jane Fonda is three years older than Jenkins. Seen her picture lately?
Why compare the appearances of a fabulously wealthy Hollywood star with access to the best makeup, cosmeticians, and plastic surgeons money can buy to a North Carolina dirt farmer?
“What good will it do to kick that little old man around some more?”
Who’s kicking him? It’s just making him take responsibility for his actions. I realize that in the Horn O’ Plenty that Western nations have become, this is a foreign concept, but some people think it’s still important.
It also serves as an object lesson for anyone else thinking of doing the same thing, and as a way to uphold the social contract with the other people who have voluntarily assumed the same responsibilities and fulfill them, sometimes at the cost of their life. It is out of respect for them.
But that’s another concept some people don’t understand any more.
And what’s this “little” stuff? What has his height got to do with anything? Want to modify the law to make it more lenient for people shorter than 6 feet?
I really disagree with the claim that Pyongyang living has been “hard time” for Mr. Jenkins. This guy was living it up like all the other communist officials there. Don’t confuse him for the average North Korean whose been eating grass and the bark off trees during the famine years.
Thanks for the links, Marmot. In commenting on this at the Flying Yangban, I wasn’t able to find the Asia Times article on my own. And I was interested to read the circumstances of his actual “desertion” (while leading a 4 man patrol along the DMZ, he left them and never returned).
I don’t know where this business about the “40 year statute of limitations” mentioned in the Asia Times article is coming from. Though a non-lawyer, I’ve some experience with administration of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. I just went back and searched the UCMJ on-line, and couldn’t any “40 year” statute of limitations for the offense of desertion. (See web site “usmilitary.about.com”; type in “Article 43 Statute
of Limitations” in the search box, and read it for yourself if interested).
I suppose there could something else I don’t know. If anyone can provide a specific link showing this so-called 40 year limitation, I’d welcome a correction. (I speculate that this may be some reporter’s garbled understanding of a possible self-imposed rule by the US military, about not beginning a period of incarceration for a much older, non-violent prisoner. But — I have no link to prove this).
I’ll repeat what I said at the Yangban. I’m just guessing, but I think that if Jenkins voluntarily surrenders to US control, he would probably end up being offered a dishonorable discharge in lieu of court-martial (with no imprisonment). But Uncle Sam will not make any deals about this ahead of time, until the case is fully reviewed by authorities after his surrender.
IMO he ought to be given such a discharge, in lieu of court-martial. Then the US Justice Dept should strip him of his citizenship and deport him to Japan, where he can live with his wife and daughters; presumably this would make the Japanese happy.
By the way, anyone interested can also type in “punitive articles” on the link above and then look at Articles 85 (Desertion) and 104 (Aiding the enemy). Since we (the US) are still technically in a state of war with NorK, this latter article may apply to Jenkins for making the propaganda broadcasts. Some other punitive articles might be found applicable, but I suspect these would be the two main ones.
Personally I’m on the side of giving the guy a break. First, for all the government’s allegations, we don’t know *for sure* that Jenkins wasn’t kidnapped — just like his wife was. Pretty much all the circumstances could conceivably be explained by a North Korean incursion into the South to grab some unsuspecting GI — the “now destroyed” letters, and so on. And Jenkins could credibly claim that the propaganda films and broadcasts were made under duress.
On the other hand, if he did defect, one must ask why. Was it for ideological reasons — did he truly believe (a la the movie “Reds”) that the DPRK was a workers’ paradise? Or did he see an intensely repressive government in South Korea — remember 1965 is during Park Chung-hee’s brutal dictatorship, plus the ever-expanding morally questionable war in Vietnam and make a decision that in hindsight he may have regretted.
I find that as I enter my 50’s (good God) I’m more and more inclined to forgive youngsters in their twenties for their stupid mistakes. I made a few myself, though not of this magnitude! For the sake of Hitomi and their children, it seems that throwing this guy in the pokey — even if you could prove anything — would serve no purpose.
Did Kim Jong-il Sign a Web Petition?
Admittedly the odds that this is authentic are miniscule, but the family of Charles Jenkins, the husband of Japanese abductee Hitomi Soga who has recently been allowed to leave North Korea, received this on their web site : “Jong il” Kim KP “Soon I …
All you characters who think that Jenkins has been “living it up” in Pyongyang, swilling cognac and yukking it up along with the ruling clique, must think that the DPRK is inexplicably more foreigner-friendly than the Republic of Korea. Besides Jeff Jones and possibly James Rooney, who are these foreigners having a grand ole time in Seoul, blending into the ruling class? And this is a much more open society than DPRK. Up north, they bayonet mixed babies.
I am chilled every time I see a photo of Jenkins with the two daughters, Mika and Belinda. Although the parents look people in the eye, those children — Mika particularly — have a beaten-down body language. They don’t look a thing like the smug, entitled children of the ruling class here.
Sort of OT…
At different times, I’ve heard talk about people teaching English (voluntarily) in the DPRK in the late 80’s/early 90’s, or something. Does anyone know if this is really true? I don’t see why it shouldn’t be, technically speaking, but it still seems unlikely.
“Although the parents look people in the eye, those children ?€“ Mika particularly ?€“ have a beaten-down body language.”
Those are only the shots since they left the country. They looked fine in previous photos. In fact, just last week I saw a video of the two girls dining in a Pyongyang eatery–looked like any hotel rooftop restaurant in the West–with someone from a Japanese NGO, and they were well-dressed, chipper, and appeared to be very comfortable in a place like that. It certainly didn’t seem as if it were there first time.
Honestly, the excuses: Pardon Jenkins because he’s short, Pardon Jenkins because his two daughers are on a trip out of their narrow world for the first time to see their mother, who has been gone for a year and a half, while dealing hordes of the international media and public attention, and look wilted, or Pardon Jenkins, because unlike other enlisted military personnel, he had a hyperdeveloped consciousness about the government of the country where he was going to spend a year, or had doubts about the Vietnam war just a few months after he reenlisted.
If you think Jenkins looks bad, you might not have recognized him from the live broadcasts in Pyongyang as he was leaving. Wearing shades, walking around rather blase and unconcerned, offering cigarettes to the people around him like a good uncle.
Really, why don’t you just be honest about it? You want to seem him pardoned because you give priority to your emotional reactions than rely on the law, behavior with integrity, or common sense.
There’s a phrase for that. It’s called “The Law of the Jungle”.
?§???” ???????´, there’s a book-length account of working as a translator-proofreader in 1997-98 in the DPRK by an Englishman Andrew Holloway. Here’s the link to the text in Aidan Foster-Carter’s website. And in case I didn’t make the link right, here’s the address for copy-and-paste:
http://www.crywolf3000.co.uk/a.....gyang.html
Asia by blog
Before I begin today’s edition a simple request: if you come across an entry (or you’ve got an entry on your blog) that you think should appear here, please send it to me. Also if you have any feedback on the current format or other likes and dislike…
I wonder how the “let Jenkins go” crowd feels about people who commit crimes
against them? I mean if Brendan got mugged and was permanently injured, would he
just drop the whole thing 40 years later? We’ll never find out because, people
who cry let them go, never let themselves get into a position where they have to
live by their words or be a hypocrite.
I was struck by the Marmot’s title and how “Rot in North Korea” slots in so seamlessly with “Rot in Hell”.
Ineresting thread. Perhaps posters here should research what happened with Vietnam deserters and draft dodgers.
Kimchipig, we meet again!
From memory, the latter group you mention have a tendency to become President of the USA.
“the hard time really shows on his face”
Well, now we know why he don’t look so good…
“..people with non-korean blood are at the bottom of the barrel (in nk).?€™
and not in japan? you must not really know the japanese”
Shinkun Haku (Chinese characters given Japanese readings instead of Korean), whose father was Korean and was born in Tokyo, former head of the Japan bureau of Choson Ilbo, just won a upper house Diet seat in the recent election.
When something like this happens in South (or North!) Korea, be sure to let us know, OK?
BS — So, you will deny blood-purity related racism within Japanese society. Or what should your example of the half-Japanese, half-Korean upper house member indicate?
Who’s the popular re-elected mayor of Tokyo, one of the biggest metropolis on this earth and economical & political heart
and mind of Japan? Shintaro Ishihara. A racist, arch-conservative foreigner hater, especially Americans (because they’re
big targets) and Chinese/ Korean immigrants (they’re weak targets).
[...] h Korea (yes, the very same one about whom as Peter points out I once said [...] h Korea (yes, the very same one about whom as Peter points out I once said http://blog.marmot.cc/archives.....ll-i-care/“ target=”_blank” title=”Marmot: He can rot in North Korea for all [...]
[...] erican defector to North Korea, Sgt. Charles Jenkins (yes, the very same one I said should [...] erican defector to North Korea, Sgt. Charles Jenkins (yes, the very same one I said should http://blog.marmot.cc/archives.....ll-i-care/“ target=”_blank” title=”Marmot: He can rot in North Korea for all [...]