By Park Si-soo
More than 10 North Korean defectors are being detained in China and face repatriation to their communist homeland, Seoul’s human rights watchdog and a lawmaker said Tuesday.
They are seeking international pressure on the Chinese authorities to stop repatriation, saying what’s awaiting the defectors back home is harsh torture and execution.
The watchdog said it received an urgent appeal from an activist group earlier Monday and is now working with Seoul’s foreign ministry to collect detailed information.
It is unclear how many North Korean defectors are actually being held there. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) estimates the number at 10, while Rep. Park Sun-young of the minor conservative Liberty Forward Party claims 24. The Dong-A Ilbo reported 31 defectors are being detained at present, citing unidentified sources.
The foreign ministry here refused to confirm the exact number and other related information, citing the sensitivity of the case.
“What I can say for now is that the ministry urged the Chinese government to handle the case with humanitarian concerns,” said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Cho Byeong-jae.
The North has become harsher in dealing with defectors since the death of its long-time ruler Kim Jong-il in December. Kim’s son and unseasoned successor Kim Jong-un has reportedly pledged to execute three generations of those caught crossing the border with China illegally in a radical measure to ward off any commotion at a sensitive time of power transition.
The NHRC said the 10 defectors were arrested by Chinese police at a bus terminal in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang on Wednesday. They had planned to travel to South Korea to unite with family members separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, it said.
“Of the 10 being held, a 19-year-old girl has both her parents living in South Korea after they successfully defected from North Korea, while a 16-year-old boy has an older brother who is a South Korean citizen,” a NHRC official said, without providing further details.
The Dong-A Ilbo daily quoted a Chinese official in Shenyang as saying their repatriation will conclude by Feb. 20.
Rep. Park claimed roughly 70 percent of the detained defectors had relatives in the South and called on the government to take a firmer stance to help these people.
Tens of thousands of North Korean defectors are believed to be hiding in China, human rights activists say, hoping to travel to Thailand or other Southeast Asian countries before resettling in South Korea, home to more than 23,000 North Korean defectors.
China does not recognize North Korean refugees and sends them back to the North, where they face harsh punishment and even execution, according to defectors and activists.