TOKYO - The Japanese wife of an American accused of deserting his Army unit 40 years ago to defect to North Korea flew to Jakarta on Thursday for a long awaited reunion with her husband and two daughters.
The saga of Hitomi Soga, who was abducted by spies and taken to the North in 1978 and then repatriated to Japan nearly two years ago, has captured the hearts of Japan. She had to return to Japan alone because her husband, Charles Jenkins, allegedly deserted his Army unit in 1965 and would face extradition and a court martial if he were to join her in Japan.
The reunion, planned for Friday, was arranged in Jakarta by Japanese and North Korean officials because Indonesia has no extradition treaty with Washington.
Soga said before boarding her flight that she was happy beyond words.
"I don't want to say anything, I just want to hug my daughters," she said.
Soga spent nearly a quarter-century in North Korea, before Kim Jong Il agreed in an unprecedented summit with Koizumi two years ago to allow her and four other kidnap victims to return home.
Jenkins was to be flown from Pyongyang to Indonesia on Friday aboard a flight charted by the Japanese government.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has expressed hopes that the reunion will be the "first step" toward a new life for the family in Japan.
However, Washington has rebuffed Tokyo's requests that it refrain from prosecuting Jenkins.
Koizumi told visiting National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice during talks late Wednesday that he hoped Tokyo and Washington would keep discussing the issue, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
"I understand it is a difficult situation," Koizumi told reporters. "But given the relationship of trust between the United States and Japan, I think we need to find a path toward a resolution that is satisfying to both parties."
It wasn't clear how long the family will stay in Indonesia.
North Korea has admitted abducting at least a dozen Japanese in the 1970s and 80s and used them to train spies in the Japanese language and culture. It says the five allowed to return to Japan are the only survivors.
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