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Unification Minister Urges China to Cooperate on N. Korean Defectors

Written: 2023-08-16 15:26:08Updated: 2023-08-16 15:33:18

Unification Minister Urges China to Cooperate on N. Korean Defectors

Photo : YONHAP News

Unification minister Kim Yung-ho says North Korean defectors in China are "refugees" who must be allowed to enter South Korea.

Speaking at a seminar on Wednesday on opposition to China's repatriation of North Korean defectors, Kim said they should be recognized as refugees in need of protection of their lives and human rights, and forced repatriation runs counter to the spirit of international rules and also violates the principle of non-refoulement.

He said North Korean escapees in China must be granted humane treatment in accordance with global standards and be able to enter the country of their choice, asking for Beijing's cooperation on the issue that has been consistently raised by Seoul and the international community.

Kim said the Seoul government will accept all defectors who wish to come to the South and vowed to exert all-out efforts in this regard so that North Koreans currently in China or any other country can safely and swiftly arrive and become its citizens without experiencing any discrimination or disadvantage.

In a statement, ruling People Power Party Rep. Choe Jae-hyeong also urged Beijing to abide by UN conventions on the status of refugees as well as on torture, stop forced repatriations and take all necessary measures to safely transfer the defectors to South Korea or other third countries in line with their wishes.

According to the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, a total of eight-thousand-148 cases of forcibly repatriated North Korean defectors have been reported and nearly 98 percent were carried out by China, which views them as illegal immigrants.

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