High-profile missionary calls for S. Korea‘s intervention over NK defectors in China

A Korean-American missionary called Friday for Korea's intervention to try to stop China from sending a group of North Korean defectors back to their communist homeland.

"Currently, 33 North Korean defectors are being held in a Chinese prison awaiting to be repatriated to their death," Robert Park said in an emailed statement.

Park, who was once held captive in North Korea for illegal entry in late 2009, claimed that the defectors, if sent back to the North, "will surely be tortured and killed," citing North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un's reported vow to kill three generations of family members of anyone who tries to leave the country.

He pressed the South Korean government to "intervene in China immediately and halt the repatriation of the 33 North Korean defectors and effectively bring them home to reunite with their families in South Korea and not die."

Tens of thousands of North Korean defectors 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 North Korean defectors.

North Korean defectors face harsh punishments and even execution after being repatriated from China, according to defectors in South Korea and human rights activists.

Park's appeal came amid South Korea's diplomatic efforts to prevent China from repatriating the latest North Korean defectors.

Senior diplomats from South Korea and China are scheduled to hold talks later this month to address detained North Korean defectors and other outstanding issues, a diplomatic source said Thursday.

During the talks, South Korea will emphasize that "China should not repatriate North Korean defectors against their will but should handle the issue from a humanitarian standpoint," the source said on condition of anonymity.

On Thursday, Rep. Park Geun-hye, the leader of South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party, sent a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao asking his government to handle North Korean defectors on humanitarian grounds, according to party officials.

As an ideological ally of Pyongyang, China views North Korean escapees as "economic migrants," not refugees, and is bound to send them back under a treaty. Beijing, however, has allowed those involved in high-profile cases to travel to South Korea, usually via a third country, to avoid international opprobrium.

A South Korean opposition lawmaker said she has sent e-mail and faxes to ask for help from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Robert King, a U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.

A total of 24 North Korean asylum seekers have been detained in China since earlier this month, according to Rep. Park Sun-young of the conservative minor Liberty Forward Party.

She said Friday that Chinese authorities were transferring nine out of 24 defectors to the border city of Tumen ahead of a possible repatriation to the North. Beijing also plans to send back 15 defectors, who are being held in the Chinese cities of Shenyang and Changchun, to the North on Saturday, she said, citing an unidentified source.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International said a group of 21 North Koreans must not be forcibly repatriated by the Chinese government, adding that the group has reportedly been told the Chinese authorities will expel them back to North Korea by Monday.

"If returned they are at risk of detention, torture and even execution as illegal border-crossers," the London-based human rights advocacy organization said in a recent statement.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said it is verifying the number of North Koreans detained in China, but did not elaborate on details.

"There are rumors some of the North Korean defectors will be repatriated but China has not yet confirmed facts on the matter," a Foreign Ministry official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing policy.

There is no immediate clear explanation on the discrepancy on the number of North Korean defectors being in the China. (Yonhap)