More than four million South Koreans visit China annually. That means almost one out of every 10 South Koreans. But residents in Anseong, a city in Kyeonggi Province, are finding it a bit difficult to visit the Middle Kingdom, including a couple who planned to enjoy their honeymoon there.
The reason? Anseong houses the Hanawon, the government-subsidized resettlement center for North Korean refugees. These settlers, just like other residents in the city, are assigned the residential code, 252, in their identification cards.
China vets North Korean settlers in South Korea when they enter China. It fears that these individuals may work as “brokers” who smuggle North Koreans hiding in China out to South Korea or work as informants who collect information on North Korea, according to JoongAng Ilbo newspaper on Saturday.
As a result, some residents in Anseong, who are not North Korean settlers, are rejected their entry to China, including a couple who chose China as their honeymoon destination, it said.
“There are scores of such cases for the last three years,” an Anseong city official told the newspaper.
With increasing complaints, the South Korean government is in talks with its Chinese counterpart on the matter, it said.