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| Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaks at a forum on opposition to the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors in China, Aug. 16. Yonhap |
South Korea's unification minister on Wednesday asked for China's cooperation in not repatriating North Koreans who have been arrested in China after fleeing the North, stressing that such people should be recognized as "refugees."
Minister Kim Yung-ho made the remarks during a seminar in Seoul amid concerns that China could return a huge number of North Korean defectors to their home country against their will if the secretive regime opens up its border with China after years of its self-imposed COVID-19 restrictions.
"North Korean defectors in China should be granted humane treatment in accordance with international standards, and be also able to enter countries that they are hoping to go to, including South Korea," Kim said in his congratulatory message for the forum.
The minister said such defectors should be recognized as "refugees" rather than illegal immigrants, raising the need to apply the principle of non-refoulement to them.
"We call for cooperation by the Chinese government over the issues of the detention of North Korean defectors in China and their forced repatriation (to the North)," he added.
He said the South Korean government has a "willingness" to accept all North Korean defectors who wish to come to the South.
A total of 8,148 repatriation cases of North Korean defectors have been reported and nearly 98 percent of such incidents were China's repatriation to the North, according to the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights.
Kim, who took office in late July, has said the issue of North Korea's human rights should be prioritized in terms of the government's inter-Korean policy. (Yonhap)
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