Unification minister to discuss deportation issue

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul listens over the phone at the start of National Assembly Diplomacy and Unification Committee session, Yeouido, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul will address issues raised after South Korea recently expelled two North Korean fishermen, who allegedly killed 16 of their fellow crew members, in a forum to be held at the National Press Club, Dec. 2, the forum organizer Kwanhoon Club said, Wednesday.

“Minister Kim will present the latest updates on several inter-Korean issues. He will share details with the participants of Seoul's assessment of inter-Korean relations, and the outlook for the denuclearization talks between the United States and North Korea. But he is expected focus on the issue of the deportation of two North Korean fishermen,” a club official said.

Kim, who recently returned from Washington D.C. following closed-door meetings with Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun and other senior U.S. officials, is also expected to discuss how improvements in relations between the U.S. and the North can be achieved. At the meetings, the minister actively floated the idea of restarting the Mount Geumgang tourism project in North Korea as an “actual incentive” in breaking the currentimpasse.

But he is widely expected to face tough questions regarding the expulsion of the two North Korean fishermen, as human rights groups have been harshly critical of the speedy deportation. A special representative for the United Nations human rights division expressed criticism of the decision, saying it was against Seoul's agreed upon principle of protecting human rights.

According to the Constitution, Seoul recognizes all North Koreans as citizens of South Korea, “granting them the right to live in the South and be protected by its legal system.” Human Rights in North Korea issued an official statement saying that it was gravely concerned over the decision to expel the North Koreans, the first such action since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War.

“Minister Kim is likely to say the deported North Koreans weren't subject to legal protection from South Korea, citing their confessions to the killings which could be construed as a threat to the lives and safety of South Korean citizens,” one source said.

The unification ministry said the North Koreans admitted to killing the fishing boat crew and dumping their bodies overboard because they had been mistreated.