Jenkins-san in the LA Times
The LA Times has an article up about former defector to North Korea Charles Robert Jenkins, reporting on his life at a souvenir shop on Sado Island:
“Jenkins-san!” shout two dozen tourists lined up to meet this diminutive man with jug-handle ears, a 69-year-old American who speaks only a few words of their native tongue.
With a weary smile, Jenkins poses for a frenzy of snapshots, awkwardly holding a box of specialty cookies. Everyone wants a piece of him, pressing in close to shake his hand and ask him to sign their souvenir snacks.
“One day I counted 300 pictures in the first hour alone,” Jenkins recalls in the easy cadence of his native North Carolina. “Then I just gave up counting.”
His quote in the article about still fearing that North Korean spies might come and kill him has been reported by the Japanese media.
For more information on Jenkin’s life, check out his autobiography: The Reluctant Communist
[The photo in this post comes from a Japanese blogger writing about a trip to Sado Island. The Jenkins-san photo is presented along with other typical tourist pics.]
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