Dec 12 (NHK) - The American husband of a former Japanese abductee has died at the age of 77.
Charles Robert Jenkins deserted to North Korea in 1965 when he was stationed in South Korea with the US army.
During his time there, he married Hitomi Soga who was abducted in 1978.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi held talks with then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in 2002, and the couple was later allowed to return to Japan.
They have lived on Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture since 2004.
Jenkins brought the North Korean abduction issue into the international spotlight by revealing that Thai and Romanian women believed to be kidnapped lived in North Korea as the wives of American defectors.
Jenkins attended the first international symposium held on North Korea's human rights issue in 2007 in Bangkok.
He spoke about the conditions in which the abducted Thai woman lived in North Korea.
