Charles Robert Jenkins

The request was made to Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who was in Japan on Feb. 2.

The idea is to allow Jenkins, 63, to live in Japan with his Japanese wife, Hitomi Soga. She was abducted by North Korea decades ago, married Jenkins there and was released more than a year ago.

On Feb. 8, Shinzo Abe, secretary-general of the governing Liberal-Democratic Party, met Soga and other abductees.

According to a report in the Asahi Shimbun, Abe told Soga he had explained to Armitage that "it's important to create a condition so that (Jenkins) can come back to Japan. I hope that the United States will be considerate and have a generous thought on the arrangement."

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 14, 2004
(C) All rights reserved