The United States is "sympathetic" to accused Army deserter Charles Jenkins' health problems and may not immediately take him into custody if he comes to Japan for medical treatment, the U.S. ambassador to Japan said Thursday. However, Howard Baker, speaking to a small group of reporters at the U.S. Embassy, said the United States still considers Jenkins a deserter and would "pursue its rights" in a case against him. But Baker said Washington had not yet decided when to seek custody of Jenkins, who disappeared from his U.S. Army unit near the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea in 1965 and has lived in North Korea ever since. "The United States is sympathetic to his health condition and his family's circumstances," Baker said.
| More sympathetic than I'd be. |
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