Accused US Army deserter Charles Jenkins pledged to surrender to American military authorities soon and "face the charges against me" in a letter released yesterday, vowing to put himself in US hands for the first time since he vanished from his unit in South Korea in 1965.
Jenkins is accused of abandoning his Army unit in January 1965 and defecting to communist North Korea, where he lived for 39 years. After his disappearance, he made pro-communist broadcasts for the North and played malevolent Americans in North Korean propaganda films.
His offer to surrender, contained in a letter released by the Japanese government, was a major step toward solving a diplomatic quandary between US military officials eager to prosecute him and Tokyo, which hopes to win him leniency so he can live in Japan with his Japanese wife.
The 64-year-old North Carolina native gave no precise timetable for his surrender, saying only that he expected he would be healthy enough to leave the Japanese hospital where he has been since July "very shortly."
"I will soon voluntarily face the charges that have been filed against me by the US Army," Jenkins said in the letter, which he signed "Charles Robert Jenkins, Sergeant, United States Army."
Desertion carries a maximum life penalty. Jenkins also faces possible charges of aiding the enemy and encouraging other soldiers to desert their posts. Speculation is high, however, that he will attempt a plea-bargain to lower his punishment.
Jenkins is married to Hitomi Soga, a Japanese citizen who was kidnapped by North Korean agents in 1978 and taken to the communist state to train spies in Japanese language and culture. She was allowed to return to Japan in 2002, but Jenkins and the couple's two daughters stayed behind.
Following a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in May, Jenkins and his two daughters went to Jakarta, Indonesia, for a reunion with Soga, and came to Japan a week later.
The US military welcomed the announcement.
"Sergeant Jenkins faces serious charges and we have long contended that he needs to avail himself of the military justice system," said Colonel Victor Warzinski, spokesman for US Forces Japan. "So we will be prepared to receive him."
Yu Kameoka, spokesman for Koizumi, refused to comment.
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