Hitomi Soga-Jenkins (Japanese: 曽我ひとみ Soga Hitomi, born May 17, 1959) is a Japanese woman who was abducted to North Korea together with her mother, Miyoshi Soga, from Sado Island, Japan, in 1978. In 1980, she married Charles Robert Jenkins, an American defector to North Korea, with whom she had two daughters. In 2002, she was allowed to return to Japan, followed two years later by her husband and children.
Abduction and life in North Korea
Soga, a nurse, was returning home from shopping with her mother Miyoshi, 46, when they were abducted from her hometown of Mano-cho, now part of the city of Sado, Niigata, on August 12, 1978, and taken to North Korea to train agents in Japanese customs and language. Her mother, Miyoshi, was later separated from her and has not been heard from since. The North Koreans gave Soga the Korean name Min Hye-gyeong (). At the direction of the North Korean government, the 21-year-old Soga was assigned to live with Jenkins, officially to "learn English" from him in 1980, and they were married weeks later on 8 August. They had two daughters: Mika (born in 1983) and Brinda (born in 1985).
Repatriation Their situation changed in 2002 when Kim Jong Il, the leader of North Korea, admitted that in the 1970s and 80s his country had kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens. He claimed that eight had died, but that the other five would be allowed to return to Japan for a 10-day visit. In September 2002, Soga was one of the five Japanese abductees allowed to visit their homeland. Though the trip was intended to be brief, she, like her four companions, never returned to North Korea. She and many Japanese called on North Korea to release family members who had been left behind. On July 9, 2004, Soga was reunited with her husband and two daughters in Jakarta, Indonesia, which had been chosen as a neutral venue to allay fears that Jenkins would be arrested.Japan abductee meets family again, BBC News Online, July 9, 2004 The family came to Japan on July 18, 2004.Alleged deserter arrives in Japan, CNN.com, July 18, 2004
Jenkins was court-martialed and incarcerated for desertion at a U.S. military installation in Japan for 26 days before being released. According to media reports, the family settled in Soga's hometown of Mano, on Sado Island.Army deserter leaves Japanese town for first visit to U.S. in 40 years, Associated Press, USA Today, June 13, 2005
In October 2012, she reportedly pleaded with the North Korean government for the release of her mother and other abductees.10 years after, former abductees still trying to erase the horrors of North Korea , Asahi Shimbun, October 15, 2012Soga calls for abductees' return, Japan Times, October 8, 2012 Charles Robert Jenkins died in 2017.
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