The Asahi Shimbun reported on the 26th that a Japanese woman and her 40-year-old son, both of whom defected from North Korea, are being sheltered by the authorities in Jilin, China.
The 73-year-old woman, from Sendai in Japan, migrated to North Korea after her husband joined the Chongryon (General Association of North Korean Residents in Japan) in 1967, and defected from North Korea, reportedly due to the famine, across the Tumen River this spring.
According to the Japanese newspaper, while the Chinese police investigated their illegal entrance into China, the fact that they wanted to go to Japan came to light. The newspaper also reported that the Japanese government has requested their transfer to Japan on humanitarian grounds.
Meanwhile, a Chinese person who had requested 10,000 dollars from the Japanese government for the cost of protecting this mother and son since last month, and for transferring them to Japan, was arrested, reported the newspaper. The report said that the Chinese authorities caught the suspect and might feasibly investigate him on suspicion of kidnapping foreigners.
This is the first such affair since 2003, when two South Korean men requested cash for the cost of helping a Japanese woman to cross the border of North Korea. The woman was subsequently sent to Japan after diplomatic negotiations between Japan and South Korea.
