I still need to read his Confessions memoir, but I suspect it’s pretty juicy. Here’s a quick update on what he’s been up to:
Shigefumi Takasuka Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
Charles Jenkins, a U.S. Army deserter to North Korea and husband of Hitomi Soga, a repatriated Japanese abductee, said Thursday that North Korean agents targeted Soga and waited a month to get a chance to kidnap her.
…
He said he was planning to apply for Japanese citizenship in July.
“I am planning [to become a Japanese],” he said. “What happened is I must wait for one year since the day I got my Japanese identification card. That’ll be July, I think.”
He also said he had been asked by a local tourist association in Sado to work as a tour guide during the summer.
“I think I’ll do that,” Jenkins said.
Asked if his book “Kokuhaku” (To Tell the Truth) would be published in countries other than Japan, Jenkins said he hoped so. “Maybe in the Korean language,” he said. “But it’s not definite yet. I’ll wait and see.”
(Feb. 3, 2006)
Come on, print an English edition! We all know it was originally written in English anyway. Are you afraid of unkind reviews in the New York Times, Jenkins? You can’t spend your whole life running away, you know.
Wanna just translate it when we finish the Aum project? 😉
It was a surprise when this book was mailed to my house when I was about to order a copy for you. Parallel Lives!
Anyway, recently Jenkins’ name is often on the Bangkok Post since he is helping the Thai gov to find the Thai abductees. One of them was about to be Jenkins’ second wife after Soga-san left for Japan.
Hmmm…Everytime I write a comment on this blog, it appears as “Adamu says”, but I am Ms. Adamu. The previous comment was by Ms. Adamu.
I think Adamu used my laptop to blogpost and saved his name…I don’t know how to change it.
There you go, that should be fixed, honey.
I watched the tv drama version and it was interesting so i decided to pick up the book as well.
since jenkins barely managed to graduate middle school, his command of english isn’t that great. accordingly, when translated to japanese, it’s not that difficult of a read. i’ve only read the first 100 pages or so, but it’s interesting and goes into more detail then the tv drama..
i also give koizumi 4 ‘get out of jail’ cards after the work he did to get people out of north korea, something that none other has been able to do, or seemingly ever tried.
Hi,
I am the editor and co-founder of a website devoted to Cold War popular culture at http://www.conelrad.com and I am working on a story about the coerced film career of Charles Robert Jenkins. I was wondering if anyone who has read his book could let me know if he discusses his films in any detail? I know he acted in at least two. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Conelrad
Conelrad, I haven’t yet read the Jenkins book but I plan to eventually. I’ll make sure to let you know. Great collection of cold war/atomic panic media you have btw.
Thank you. My inquries to his co-author at Time Magazine went unanswered, so if you could let me know what Jenkins writes about his films when you have a chance, I would appreciate it. I have ordered “Nameless Heroes” and look forward to viewing it.