The Democratic United Party leadership, which had been almost silent on the fate of a group of North Korean defectors arrested in Shenyang last month, today called for their rights to be respected, just as news emerged of their repatriation.
Party supreme council lawmaker Park Jie Won told a council meeting this morning, “On a number of occasions we requested that the Chinese government, a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, recognize the North Korean defectors as refugees and protect them accordingly. However, today’s report suggests that the Chinese government has gone right ahead and committed the inhumane act of repatriation.”
He added, “This should not continue anymore,” before denouncing the South Korean government, asking, “As expected, what is President Lee Myung Bak doing in this situation?”
“This unfortunate event has happened suddenly, and North Korea-U.S. dialogue is going well; I cannot understand why this government is pursuing a hard-line North Korea policy,” he went on.
Another senior party lawmaker Kim Boo Kyum added, “The government has made an international issue of this by going from quiet diplomacy to public diplomacy. As such, they should be clear about the objective of their policy so as to not cause any misunderstandings with other countries, and show us a plan by which to practically solve the problem.”
Kim added, “That is the only way all domestic influence can be marshaled to protect the lives of these desperate people.”
“If the Chinese government is unable to accept the defectors as refugees, I request that they at least don’t ignore their right to apply for refugee status… Let’s emphasize once again that the world’s leading countries are watching the Chinese government.”
In conclusion, Kim also requested “that a special committee on the problem of forced repatriations be created within the party. We need to undertake investigations and find practical ways to solve this problem; it is our party’s responsibility to stop excessive tension and conflict over their human rights from happening in South Korea”.
