WASHINGTON — The United States has told Japan it would seek to court-martial former U.S. Army Sgt Charles Robert Jenkins, who defected to North Korea and married a Japanese abductee there, if he visits Japan, Japanese and U.S. sources said Wednesday.
Through a diplomatic channel, the U.S. notified Japan of its intention of not providing exceptional treatment to the 62-year-old Jenkins, who is still in North Korea, the sources said.
Jenkins is listed by the U.S. military as having deserted to North Korea in 1965 while stationed on the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea.
Japan asked the U.S. earlier this month to pardon Jenkins so he and his wife Hitomi Soga could settle in Japan. Soga, 43, is one of five Japanese abducted by North Korea in 1978 who are currently visiting Japan.
In Japan-North Korea talks in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday and Wednesday on establishing bilateral diplomatic ties, Tokyo called on Pyongyang to allow relatives of the five in the North to be reunited with them in Japan.
A Japanese Foreign Ministry source said Japan does not consider the reply from the U.S. as Washington's final answer in the matter.
Through a diplomatic channel, the U.S. notified Japan of its intention of not providing exceptional treatment to the 62-year-old Jenkins, who is still in North Korea, the sources said.
Jenkins is listed by the U.S. military as having deserted to North Korea in 1965 while stationed on the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea.
Japan asked the U.S. earlier this month to pardon Jenkins so he and his wife Hitomi Soga could settle in Japan. Soga, 43, is one of five Japanese abducted by North Korea in 1978 who are currently visiting Japan.
In Japan-North Korea talks in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday and Wednesday on establishing bilateral diplomatic ties, Tokyo called on Pyongyang to allow relatives of the five in the North to be reunited with them in Japan.
A Japanese Foreign Ministry source said Japan does not consider the reply from the U.S. as Washington's final answer in the matter.