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 was allowed to travel to Japan and flee North Korea in 2004. After reporting to Camp Zama that September, 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.
Early life
Charles Robert Jenkins was born on (1940-02-18)18 February 1940 in Rich Square, North Carolina,[1] to Patti Casper Jenkins.[2] He had at least two siblings: a younger sister (Pat)[3] and a younger brother (Stanford). Jenkins dropped out of Rich Square High School—precipitated by either a sports injury[4] or the mid-1950s death of his father—in the seventh grade.[5]
On 5 January 1965, 24-year-old Sergeant Jenkins was stationed at the DMZ with the Army's 8th Cavalry Regiment[11] when he decided to desert the United States Armed Forces because he was being ordered to lead "more aggressive, provocative patrols", and there were rumors that his unit would be sent to Vietnam.[10] After drinking ten beers to build his courage,[12] Jenkins went on patrol with his squad. At 2:30am, after telling the other three men that "he heard a noise", Jenkins disappeared into the night approximately ten kilometres (6.2 mi) south of Panmunjom.[11] To show his peaceful intentions, he removed the rounds from[8] his M14 rifle, and tied a white t-shirt to the muzzle before walking for several cold hours towards North Korea.[13] He had planned to claim asylum with the Soviet Union and then return to the US for discharge and punishment via a prisoner exchange.[14][15] He was instead held prisoner in North Korea for 39+1⁄2 years.[10]
The Army declared Jenkins a defector based on four letters that he left behind in his barracks; one, addressed to his mother, read: "Forgive me, for I know what I must do. Tell my family I love them. Love, Charles." Jenkins' family disputed this determination because he "always either signed letters 'Robert' or used his nickname 'Super'." In 1996, Jenkins was reclassified by the US military as a deserter.[11] Jenkins' nephew, James Hyman, was a decades-long strident defendant of the theory that his uncle had been kidnapped by North Koreans.[13]
Jenkins would later tell Professor Robert Boynton (of New York University) "that he had been a double-agent, sent to North Korea by the U.S. to spy on them". Boynton disbelieved Jenkins' claim, calling it "his attempt to maintain some dignity, and prove he wasn't just a hapless sap who made a life-altering mistake."[16]
In North Korea
Jenkins was initially housed with fellow US deserters Larry Allen Abshier, James Joseph Dresnok, and Jerry Wayne Parrish.[10] The American men fought amongst themselves, with Jenkins later describing the 6-foot-4-inch (1.93 m) Dresnok as a bully who informed on the others to their captors.[8] On 26 January 1965, North Korean radio announced that Jenkins had defected there "because of disgust with conditions in South Korea and that he believed life was better under the Communists [sic]."[4] In 1966, the four men attempted escape by seeking asylum at the Soviet embassy in Pyongyang, but were unsuccessful.[17] In 1972, the four US servicemen in North Korea were given their own homes and declared citizens, though their "constant surveillance, beatings and torture" continued.[15]
During his imprisonment in North Korea, Jenkins was made to memorize Kim Il Sung's writings and work for the communist state as an English teacher and translator.[16] Jenkins' lessons in American English lasted until 1985 when it was decided that his pronounced Southern accent was more a hindrance than not.[8]
In 1978, Hitomi Soga (born in 1958 or 1959)[10] was a Japanese student nurse in Sado, Niigata when she and her mother were kidnapped by North Korean agents and taken to their country to train more agents there.[16] At the direction of the North Korean government, the 21-year-old Soga was assigned to Jenkins in 1980, and they were married weeks later[10] on 8 August.[11] They had two daughters: Mika (born in 1983) and Brinda (born in 1985). An interviewer of Jenkins would later tell The Japan Times that Jenkins' relationship with Soga was remarkable: Jenkins said "several times that she was the best thing that had ever happened to him [...] 'She saved my life,' he told me. I suspect he was right."[16] After their release from North Korea in the early 2000s, Jenkins offered to dissolve their marriage, as it had been imposed upon them; Soga declined.[10]
During the North Korean famine that killed millions of North Koreans, as an asset for propaganda, Jenkins and his family still received rations of clothing, insect-infested rice, and soap.[8] In their 2004 testimony, Jenkins and Soga told the US Army about their living accommodations in North Korea—or lack thereof. While heat, warm water, and food were scarce, the omnipresent state surrounded them and their home with barbed wire, hidden microphones, and "political supervisors".[3] By the time he left, Jenkins was receiving from the North Korean government a monthly income of US$120 (equivalent to $193.57 in 2023), and his daughters were enrolled at the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies,[13] possibly for training to infiltrate South Korea.[13][9]
Acting
In 1978, production began on the 20-film series Unsung Heroes which tells the North Korean version of the Korean War and its antecedents. Jenkins was made to play Dr. Kelton, a capitalist warmonger who endeavored to extend the war to benefit the US arms industry. These films made Jenkins a celebrity; he was recognized on the street as "Dr. Kelton!" (Korean: « 켈튼 박사! », romanized: "Kelton Bac-Sa!") and made to sign autographs.[6] One of these films was delivered to Jenkins' family in 1997—their first sight of Jenkins since his desertion.[10]
Jenkins' last North Korean film was in 2000, about the communists' capture of USS Pueblo (AGER-2),[6] portraying a US aircraft carrier captain.[7] His celebrity status as an alleged-defector-turned-movie-star also afforded him greater social cachet as a state prize, allowing him to see Soviet dignitaries and diplomats who piteously slipped him materials and information from outside North Korea.[18]
Instead, Pyongyang eventually permitted Jenkins and his daughters to fly to Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Indonesia where they reunited with Soga[15] and the Japanese government promised residency for the whole family.[16] After his release from North Korea, Jenkins was 1.65 metres (5 ft 5 in) tall,[5] and only weighed 100 pounds (45 kg),[12] having lost his appendix, one testicle, and part of a US Army tattoo (cut off without anesthetic) to North Korea. Of the four 1960s deserters to North Korea, he was the only one to ever leave.[15] Upon arrival in Japan from Indonesia, Jenkins spent a month in the hospital at Tokyo Women's Medical University[5] to recover from complications of prostate surgery (performed in North Korea before he left).[13]
On 11 September 2004, he presented himself to Lieutenant Colonel Paul Nigara at Camp Zama, saying with a salute, "Sir, I'm Sergeant Jenkins and I'm reporting".[15] Jenkins' court-martial began and ended on 3 November 2004.[3] He was the longest-missing deserter to return to the US military.[7][8]
Represented by Captain James D. Culp,[5] Jenkins' single-day court-martial (United States v. Jenkins) was convened by United States Army, Japan on 3 November 2004. Colonel Denise Vowell was judge for the bench trial. In accordance with his pre-trial agreement,[9] Jenkins pled guilty to desertion and aiding the enemy (the latter for teaching English in North Korea).[15] Vowell sentenced him to "six months' confinement, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances, reduction to the lowest enlisted grade, and a dishonorable discharge." Major General Elbert N. Perkins, the general court-martial convening authority, changed the confinement to 30 days, and approved the remainder of the sentence,[9] to be in the brig at United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka—where, Captain King H. Dietriech assured reporters, "there will be no special treatment for Private Jenkins."[3]
Jenkins spent only 25 days in the brig; he was released early for good conduct[15] on 27 November 2004. Having waived "his post-trial and appellate rights", Jenkins' demotion and dishonorable discharge were executed on 18 July 2005.[9]
SGT Jenkins at court-martial
BBC News reported that Jenkins may have received only the 30-day sentence because of the intelligence he provided the US.[15] In 2009, Jenkins told Vice that in addition to receiving a sergeant's salary while in prison[18]—a monthly rate of $2,367.90 (equivalent to $3,820 in 2023)[20]—he spent his time working with military intelligence. According to Jenkins, the sentence was "all a big set-up for the outside world so it looked like justice was done. After all, I betrayed my country and people wanted to see me get punished for that – but I was just helping the government with what I knew. They just gave me the shortest sentence possible with a week off for good behaviour so it didn't seem like I was let off the hook."[18]
Civilian life
After his release from prison, Jenkins lived with his family in Soga's Sado childhood home.[12] In June 2005, he visited the United States with his wife and children. They travelled to his home town of Rich Square, North Carolina, where Charles was reunited with his 91-year-old mother, whom he had not seen in four decades.[2] Jenkins' mother and sister still lived in the state when he expatriated from North Korea.[3][10] When his mother died at the age of 94, Jenkins again travelled to Rich Square to bury her.[12]
He continued to fear that agents of Kim Jong Il would retaliate against him in Japan; he couldn't eat sashimi out of fear it would make him sick from the memories; and he was more fluent in Korean than English. To record what he remembered and experienced, Jenkins published a memoir in 2008: The Reluctant Communist.[12] In Japan, Jenkins fostered an interest in motorcycling; he was featured on the cover of Mr. Bike, a Japanese motorcycle-enthusiast magazine.[18]
^ abcdefKirk, Jeremy (1 September 2004). "Four Decades in North Korea". Far Eastern Economic Review. Tokyo. ISSN0014-7591. Archived from the original on 2 September 2004. Retrieved 27 August 2022. One cold night in 1965, Sgt. Charles Robert Jenkins disappeared from a patrol in South Korea. Forty years later he has resurfaced. In his first interview since leaving North Korea, he tells the Review his story
^ abcFowler, Simon (November 2015). "The US defectors who became film stars in North Korea". BBC. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2022. In 1965, US soldier Charles Robert Jenkins left South Korea for the North – and he went on to become a star in the Hermit Kingdom. Simon Fowler recounts his strange tale.
^ abcdefghiSeales, Rebecca (14 December 2017). "How forced marriage saved a US defector in North Korea". BBC News. Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2022. Every night before going to bed, US defector Charles Jenkins turned to Hitomi Soga, the woman North Korea had forced him to marry, and kissed her three times.
^ジェンキンスさんに永住許可「死ぬまでここにいたい」 [Permission for permanent residence to Mr. Jenkins: 'I want to stay here until I die.']. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). 15 July 2008. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
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