By Kim Young-jin
A group of five North Korean defectors, including one family, has arrived in the South after hiding for years at a South Korean consulate in China, officials said Wednesday.
This is the first time during the Lee Myung-bak administration that Beijing has allowed defectors staying in South Korean consulates passage here, and followed a recent pledge by President Hu Jintao to take a flexible position on the matter.
The family is comprised of the daughter of a former South Korean soldier who was taken prisoner during the 1950-53 war and her two children. Details were not given on the other two defectors. The group arrived Sunday via a third country and were being debriefed by South Korean authorities, an official said on condition of anonymity.
According to reports, the family had been waiting since 2009 at the consulate in Beijing.
The matter of North Korean defectors in China is a thorny one as Beijing considers them illegal economic migrants and repatriates them, despite reports that they face harsh punishment.
The issue made headlines recently on the back of grassroots efforts to save dozens of defectors being detained by China. Despite pressure from South Korean citizens as well as the government, Beijing reportedly repatriated at least some of that group.
Analysts say China repatriates the defectors to sustain stability along its borders, fearing a flood of refugees from its impoverished neighbor.
But amid mounting criticism, President Hu, during a visit to Seoul last week, said Beijing would give “consideration to the issue of North Korean defectors and respect” the South’s position.
Beijing in the past allowed North Koreans who sought asylum at diplomatic missions to travel to the South, but suspended the practice in recent years, apparently due to complaints from Pyongyang according to analysts.
Some observers said the tougher stand could reflect an effort by Beijing to apply pressure over Pyongyang’s plan to launch a satellite atop a long-range rocket as early as next week.
While Pyongyang insists the launch, slated for sometime between April 12 and 16, is for scientific purposes, it is widely seen as cover for a ballistic missile test that could advance the country toward developing a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
Beijing has reportedly expressed “serious concern” over the plan in a rare public warning to its Cold War-era ally.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans are believed to be hiding in China, hoping to travel to Thailand or other Southeast Asian countries before resettling in South Korea, home to more than 23,000 defectors.
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