View source for Hitomi Soga

{{Short description|Japanese abductee to North Korea (born 1959)}}
{{family name hatnote|Soga|lang=Japanese}}{{Expand Japanese|topic=bio}}
{{use mdy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Hitomi Soga
| image              = 20230705 Hitomi Soga.jpg
| alt                = 
| caption            = Soga in 2023
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1959|05|17}}
| birth_place        = [[Sado, Niigata]], Japan
| disappeared_date   = August 12, 1978 (age 19)
| disappeared_place  = Sado
| disappeared_status = Returned
| nationality        = Japanese
| other_names        = Min Hye-gyeong
| known_for          = Kidnapping victim
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Charles Robert Jenkins]]|1980|2017|reason=died}}
| children           = {{unbulleted list|Mika Soga-Jenkins (daughter)|Brinda Soga-Jenkins (daughter)}}
}}

'''Hitomi Soga-Jenkins''' ([[Japanese language|Japanese]]: 曽我ひとみ ''Soga Hitomi'', born May 17, 1959) is a Japanese woman who was [[North Korean abductions of Japanese|abducted]] to [[North Korea]] together with her mother, Miyoshi Soga, from [[Sado Island]], [[Japan]], in 1978.  In 1980, she married [[Charles Robert Jenkins]],<ref name="2014-02-07 Human Rights Council" /> an American defector to North Korea, with whom she had two daughters. In 2002, she was allowed to return to Japan, followed two years later by her husband and children.

==Abduction and life in North Korea==
[[File:Miyoshi Soga with her daughter Hitomi Soga.jpg|thumb|Hitomi Soga with her mother Miyoshi Soga, early 1960s]]
Soga, a nurse, was returning home from shopping with her mother Miyoshi, 46, when they were abducted from her hometown of Mano-cho, now part of the city of [[Sado, Niigata]], on August 12, 1978, and taken to North Korea to train agents in Japanese customs and language. Her mother, Miyoshi, was later separated from her and has not been heard from since.  The North Koreans gave Soga the Korean name ''Min Hye-gyeong'' ({{langx|ko|민혜경}}). At the direction of the [[Government of North Korea|North Korean government]], the 21-year-old Soga was assigned to live with Jenkins, officially to "learn English" from him in 1980, and they were married weeks later on 8 August.  They had two daughters: Mika (born in 1983) and Brinda (born in 1985).<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2005-10-24 |title=From Hell With Love |url=https://time.com/archive/6955538/from-hell-with-love-2/ |access-date=2025-07-21 |website=TIME |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42321400|title=US defector's extraordinary N Korea love story|first=Rebecca|last=Seales|work=BBC News|date=December 14, 2017|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42319115|title=American who defected to North Korea dies|work=BBC News|date=December 12, 2017|publisher=}}</ref>

==Repatriation==
Soga was one of a group of five Japanese abductees whom North Korea allowed to visit their homeland in September 2002. 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.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3877557.stm Japan abductee meets family again], [[BBC News Online]], July 9, 2004</ref> The family came to Japan on July 18, 2004.<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/07/18/us.deserter/ Alleged deserter arrives in Japan], [[CNN.com]], July 18, 2004</ref>

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, Niigata|Mano]], on [[Sado Island]].<ref>[http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-06-13-japan-deserter_x.htm Army deserter leaves Japanese town for first visit to U.S. in 40 years], [[Associated Press]], ''[[USA Today]]'', June 13, 2005</ref>

In October 2012, she reportedly pleaded with the North Korean government for the release of her mother and other abductees.<ref>[http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201210150090 10 years after, former abductees still trying to erase the horrors of North Korea] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019234805/http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201210150090 |date=October 19, 2012 }}, Asahi Shimbun, October 15, 2012</ref><ref>[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121008a5.html Soga calls for abductees' return], ''[[Japan Times]]'', October 8, 2012</ref> Charles Robert Jenkins died in 2017.<ref name="2017-12-12 BBC" />
[[File:Shinzō Abe and Donald Trump inside Akasaka Palace (1).jpg|thumb|Hitomi Soga (front row, third from left) with [[Shinzō Abe]] and [[Donald Trump]] in Japan, 2017]]

==See also==
* {{annotated link|Anocha Panjoi}}
* {{annotated link|List of kidnappings}}
* {{annotated link|North Korean abductions of Japanese}}

==References==
{{reflist |refs=

<ref name="2014-02-07 Human Rights Council">{{citation |publisher=[[United Nations Human Rights Council]] |date=2014-02-07 |title=Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIDPRK/Report/A.HRC.25.CRP.1_ENG.doc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227104633/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIDPRK/Report/A.HRC.25.CRP.1_ENG.doc |archive-date=2014-02-27 |page=311}}</ref>

<ref name="2017-12-12 BBC">{{cite news |date=2017-12-12 |title=Charles Jenkins: US soldier who defected to North Korea dies |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42319115 |url-status=live |language=en |publisher=[[BBC News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804175422/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42319115 |archive-date=2019-08-04 |access-date=2022-03-19 |quote=A former US sergeant who defected to North Korea and became Pyongyang's prisoner for nearly 40 years has died.}}</ref>

}}

==External links==
* {{cite news |title=Abductee Soga marks 5 years since return from North Korea, says she enjoys work|url=http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071017p2a00m0na015000c.html|newspaper=[[Mainichi Shimbun]]|date=October 17, 2007|accessdate=October 18, 2007}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
* {{cite news |title=Japanese abductee caught in Cold War tug-of-love|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/11/07/japan.deserter/|publisher= CNN | first= Rabecca |last= Mackinnon |date=November 7, 2002}} 
* {{cite news |title=Japan abductee meets family again|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3877557.stm|work= BBC News  |last= staff |date=July 9, 2004 }} 
* {{cite news |title=A Cold War love story|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/07/08/nkorea.reunion/|publisher= CNN | first= Maria |last= Ressa |date=July 9, 2004 }}

{{North Korean abductions}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soga, Hitomi}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:1970s missing person cases]]
[[Category:Japanese expatriates in North Korea]]
[[Category:kidnapped Japanese people]]
[[Category:living people]]
[[Category:Missing person cases in Japan]]
[[Category:Formerly missing Japanese people]]
[[Category:North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens]]
[[Category:people from Sado, Niigata]]
[[Category:People of the Shōwa era]]