Hitomi Soga

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. In 1980, she married Charles Robert Jenkins,

Repatriation Their situation changed in 2002 when Kim Jong Il, the leader of North Korea, admitted that in the 1970s and 80s his country had kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens. He claimed that eight had died, but that the other five would be allowed to return to Japan for a 10-day visit. In September 2002, Soga was one of the five Japanese abductees allowed to visit their homeland. 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 before being released. According to media reports, the family settled in Soga's hometown of Mano, on Sado Island.

In October 2012, she reportedly pleaded with the North Korean government for the release of her mother and other abductees. Charles Robert Jenkins died in 2017.