U.S. Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker suggested to senior lawmakers of the ruling coalition Friday that Charles Jenkins, an alleged U.S. Army deserter to North Korea, should seek a plea bargain, officials said.
The suggestion came just hours before Tokyo formally announced that Jenkins, 64, who reunited with his Japanese wife, repatriated Pyongyang abductee Hitomi Soga, in Jakarta last week, will travel to Japan for urgent medical treatment Sunday.
Jenkins, his wife and their two North Korean-born daughters will fly to Japan on a government-chartered plane and he will be immediately hospitalized in Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told reporters, describing the move as an "urgent and humanitarian step."