A former US soldier accused of deserting to North Korea wants to speak to an American military lawyer in a move that may resolve a US-Japan stalemate over his fate.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Mr Hiroyuki Hosoda said the move did not necessarily mean that former army sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins (64), who Washington says deserted to North Korea in 1965, was ready to plead guilty and seek a plea bargain.
Mr Jenkins arrived in Tokyo earlier this month reuniting with his wife and two daughters who he had not seen in two years. The former army man says he was abducted by North Korean forces and kept in the country in virtual poverty.
He met Ms Hitomi Soga (45) who says she was abducted by North Korean agents and taken there in 1978.
But Ms Soga was born in Japan and, under pressure from relatives at home, Japanese authorities secured her and the couple's two North Korean-born daughters' repatriation in 2002.
A deal with North Korea was then agreed with the help of Indonesia for Mr Jenkins to reunited with his family in Japan, but Washington is insisting he must face investigation and possible court martial.
Washington says Mr Jenkins defected to North Korea in 1965 and joined Pyongyang's propaganda machine. His American relatives say there is no proof to substantiate the claim and insist he was kidnapped and brainwashed.
When Mr Jenkins arrived in Japan he was in ill health and brought to hospital. Now discharged he has sought legal advice on his position but there are suitably qualified military lawyers in Japan, so Mr Jenkins has called in an American.
US ambassador to Japan Howard Baker has been quoted by Japanese media as saying a plea bargain might be one way out of the diplomatic bind plaguing the two closely allied countries.
US President George W. Bush is thought reluctant to give Mr Jenkins special treatment while US soldiers are fighting in Iraq and ahead of the US presidential election in November.