Background and career
Charles Robert Jenkins ((1940-02-18)18 February 1940 – (2017-12-11)11 December 2017) was a deserter from the United States Army, a North Korean prisoner, and voice for Japanese abductees in North Korea.
Driven by fear of combat and possible service in the Vietnam War, then-Sergeant Jenkins abandoned his patrol and walked across the Korean Demilitarized Zone in January 1965. Instead of being sent to the Soviet Union and then traded back to the US, Jenkins was held captive in North Korea for over 39 years. While kept prisoner, Jenkins was tortured, forced to wed a captured Japanese national, and cast in North Korean propaganda videos.
With improved Japanese–North Korean relations, Jenkins' wife was allowed to visit Japan in 2002, which allowed Jenkins to eventually leave North Korea and arrive in Japan as well. After reporting to Camp Zama in September 2004, Jenkins was court-martialed and served 25 days as an inmate in the brig at United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka. Until his death in 2017, Jenkins lived in his wife's childhood Sado home with her and their two daughters, wrote a book about his experiences in North Korea, worked in a local museum, and was treated like a celebrity by the Japanese.
