North Korea strikes back over defectors

Activists protest Beijing’s policy of arresting and forcefully sending North Korean refugees in China back to the impoverished North, where many of those repatriated face severe penalties, including execution, in front of the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, Sunday.
Yonhap

By Kim Young-jin

North Korea accused South Korea of abducting its people and using the issue of defectors to further isolate the Stalinist regime Saturday amid intense international scrutiny over its reportedly brutal punishment of those caught fleeing.

The statement, issued by the North's Red Cross Society, came amid international concern over the plight of dozens of North Koreans thought to be in grave danger of being returned to their homeland after a period of detention by China.

"The North Korean defector issue is not an issue of refugees but the outcome of efforts by hostile forces to isolate the DPRK in the international community and to lure and abduct our people," the statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said, using the acronym for the North’s official name.

Defectors and rights groups say those who are repatriated to the North are subject to harsh punishment including torture and even death. Beijing repatriates defectors under a deal with Pyongyang.

In addition to those detained, tens of thousands of North Koreans are believed to be hiding in China, many waiting to flee for South Korea, where they can receive citizenship.

Amid a growing grassroots campaign calling on Beijing to end its repatriation policy, Seoul has become more vocal in its call that the defectors be handled in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles.

A South Korean parliamentary committee on Friday adopted a resolution demanding China stop repatriating North Korean defectors to their homeland after President Lee Myung-bak earlier called on Beijing to change the policy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has indicated it will raise the issue during a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council that opens this week.

The resolution was submitted by Rep. Park Sun-young of the minor conservative Liberty Forward Party, who has been spearheading the drive to pressure China over the matter, at a general meeting of the National Assembly committee on foreign affairs and unification. Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan was present at the meeting.

The story of the detainees has garnered support here and abroad, with activists protesting the possible repatriation in front of the Chinese Embassy and an online petition gathering over 110,000 signatures.

The attention comes as the North apparently remains in lockdown mode to prevent defections after the death of it longtime ruler Kim Jong-il late last year, a crackdown that reportedly includes shoot-to-kill orders.

Reports emerged after Kim’s death that some would-be defectors were shot dead as they attempted to cross the Amnok River (Yalu River). The report followed others that Pyongyang tightened border controls before the official announcement of Kim’s death.

The North has in the past accused the South of abducting people who successfully defect.

Pyongyang has abducted 3,835 South Koreans since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, with over 500 of them believed to remain there

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