US Army Deserter Sells Gifts

The numbers: 39 years in North Korea (deserted US Army; defected); married to Japanese woman 27 years (who was kidnapped from Japan by North Korea in 1978); two kids born in North Korea (1983, 1985); finally gets to Japan (2004); sentenced to 30 days confinement, released six days early, for good behavior; June 14, 2005, Jenkins, his wife, and two daughters visit his 91-year-old mother in US; Jenkins obtained permanent Japan residency status, July 15, 2008, only 2 weeks after applying (usually takes about six months.)

And these days? One travel flyer promoting Sado Island features Jenkins. His wife is from Sado Island, and Jenkins is now a kind of tourist attraction at the family gift shop there. Two percent of sales are donated to abductee relief.

VIA:poem 

RELATED: The Long Mistake; 64-Year Old American Pleads Guilty to Deserting; Soga anxious to see her mother on 30th anniversary of abduction; Ex-abductee Soga voices gratitude for support 5 yrs after repatriation; Jenkins granted permanent residency status: The Reluctant Communist My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea; Cases of Abduction recognised by the Government of Japan. Sado Island; Sado Tourism Association.