Gov’t commission to probe defectors

Politics

Published: 07 Mar. 2010, 22:58

Gov’t commission to probe defectors

After receiving a petition to open communications with a North Korean defector sheltered in the South Korean Embassy in China, the National Human Rights Commission in Seoul confirmed yesterday that it is investigating the plight of North Korean refugees overseas for the first time. The commission has asked the Foreign Ministry for help.

According to the commission, an official with a private North Korean human rights group in Seoul filed a petition last September asking permission to start exchanging letters with a North Korean refugee in the embassy. It was the first time that the human rights commission was asked to deal with North Korean refugees held in an overseas embassy.

The petitioner told the commission that North Korean defectors are essentially locked inside the embassy with no access to communication, sources said. He also argued that the refugees haven’t been able to come to South Korea because Seoul has not tried hard enough to address this issue for fear of creating diplomatic strains with China.

There are reportedly hundreds of thousands of North Korean defectors hiding in China. But China recognizes them as economic migrants, not as refugees. Under a clandestine deal with North Korea, China repatriates them and they face torture or even execution once they return.

The United States has denounced China for deporting North Korean refugees and has pressed the country to allow access to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

An official at the Foreign Ministry said the refugee mentioned in the petition has stayed in the South Korean embassy for more than two years and that the activist and the refugee have exchanged letters since last September. The ministry official also said the South Korean government is negotiating with the Chinese government over the handling of North Koreans at the South’s embassy in Beijing.

“North Korean defectors end up in the South after they’re expelled by China to a third country,” a commission official explained. “But diplomatic situations have kept some of them at the embassy for an extended period of time.” Such third countries have included Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.

There are about 70 North Koreans currently sheltered in the South Korean Embassy in Beijing, according to activists here. The Foreign Ministry and the Unification Ministry don’t deny that the embassy holds refugees but they don’t provide further details on the refugees’ living conditions or their future.

Tightened security has made it difficult for the refugees to climb over the wall into the embassy. Local brokers have produced forged Chinese passports for the refugees, each worth up to 700,000 South Korean won ($614).

Even if they make it into the embassy, the refugees aren’t entirely liberated. They can’t leave the property and they get to stay outside the building for only about three hours a day. Because of security concerns, they are not allowed to have phone conversations.

Some embassy employees run education programs for the refugees. A diplomatic source here once said these employees take their turns overnight watching the refugees.

By Kang Ki-heon [jeeho@joongang.co.kr]

Related Korean Article

탈북단체 주장 주중대사관 실태

“주중 한국대사관의 출입구는 탈북자들에게 생사를 가르는 갈림길이었다.”

탈북자 인권단체 관계자는 7일 “2000년대 중반까지 탈북자들은 목숨을 걸고 대사관 담장을 넘었다”며 이렇게 말했다. 북한에서 중국으로 탈출한 뒤 한국 대사관이나 영사관에 들어가면 한국행을 보장받았다는 것이다.

하지만 최근엔 주중 한국 공관에 진입하는 것이 ‘목숨을 건 여행’의 해피엔딩이 아니라고 한다. 피랍탈북인권연대 등 북한 인권단체에 따르면 베이징 주재 한국 영사관과 한국대사관에 1년 넘게 체류하는 탈북자가 70여 명이다.

인권위에 진정이 제기된 탈북자는 대사관에 2년 넘게 체류하고 있는 것으로 전해졌다. 인권단체 관계자는 “이들은 외부에 노출되지 않으려고 하루 세 시간 정도만 햇볕을 쬐면서 대사관 등에서 숙식을 해결하고 있다”고 말했다. 치외법권 지역인 대사관 건물에 성공적으로 진입하고도 ‘자유의 몸’이 되는 것은 아니라는 얘기다. 언제일지 모르는 한국 입국을 기대하며 사실상 구금 상태로 살고 있는 것이다.

한글 기사 보기