Name Hitomi Soga | ||
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Children Roberta Mika Jenkins, Brinda Carol Jenkins People also search for Charles Robert Jenkins, Roberta Mika Jenkins, Brinda Carol Jenkins | ||
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. She married Charles Robert Jenkins, an American defector to North Korea, in 1980. Soga currently lives in Japan.
Contents
- Charles Robert Jenkins US Deserter To North Korea Dies In Japan NBC News
- Abduction and life in North Korea
- Popular Videos Charles Robert Jenkins Hitomi Soga
- Repatriation
- Film
- References
Charles Robert Jenkins, U.S. Deserter To North Korea, Dies In Japan | NBC News
Abduction and life in North Korea
Soga, a nurse, was 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 then 46-year-old mother, Miyoshi, disappeared at the same time and has not been heard from since. The North Koreans gave Soga the Korean name Min Hye-gyong (Korean: 민혜경). She met Jenkins in early July 1980, when he was asked to teach her English, and they married on August 8, 1980. They had two daughters, Mika and Brinda.
Popular Videos - Charles Robert Jenkins & Hitomi Soga
Repatriation
Soga was one of a group of five Japanese abductees whom North Korea allowed to visit their homeland in September 2002. 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. The family came to Japan on July 18, 2004.
Jenkins was court-martialed and incarcerated for "desertion" at a U.S. military installation in Japan for 26 days then released. They live in Soga's hometown of Mano, on Sado Island, where, according to media reports, the family has settled.
In October 2012, she reportedly pleaded with the North Korean government for the release of her mother and other abductees.
Film
Soga was played by Horikoshi Nori in Saikai ~Yokota Megumi-san no Negai~