Seoul urges China to stop repatriating NK defectors

President Lee Myung-bak, right, talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Cheong Wa Dae, central Seoul, Friday. Lee called for Beijing’s cooperation over the issue of North Korean refugees in China.

Top diplomats welcome nuke deal

President Lee Myung-bak called for Beijing’s cooperation over the issue of North Korean refugees in China during talks with the Chinese foreign minister in Seoul, Friday.

Presidential spokesman Park Jeong-ha said Lee expressed the hope that the issue could be solved “smoothly” during a meeting with Yang Jiechi, as Seoul continued to pressure Beijing to come in line with international norms and end its policy of forced repatriation of refugees.

Lee’s remarks came as the plight of dozens of North Koreans thought to be in grave danger of repatriation after a period of detention in China has thrust the diplomatically tricky issue into the spotlight.

Yang, who earlier held talks with Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Kim Sung-hwan, said he would relay the discussion to Chinese President Hu Jintao and that the matter would be taken seriously, the spokesman said.

Minister Kim also applied pressure, citing international law on the status of refugees and South Korean public sentiment in relaying Seoul’s position, during talks that covered a range of bilateral and regional issues. Yang echoed Beijing’s earlier pledges that the situation would be dealt with in a “reasonable manner” and in view of “domestic and international law.”

The issue is a thorny one as defectors and human rights groups say those who are repatriated to the North are subject to harsh punishment including torture and even death.

But Beijing, a key ally of the impoverished North, has reiterated that it does not consider North Korean defectors as refugees but rather illegal economic migrants.

The matter has grabbed headlines in recent weeks on the back of grassroots campaigning to save the group of some 30 North Koreans who were caught by Chinese authorities as they attempted to flee their Stalinist homeland. Over 23,000 defectors have been granted citizenship in the South.

Analysts say Beijing is concerned about the prospect of an increasing flow of refugees across its border as well as its ties with Pyongyang.

The South, apparently breaking from its pattern of “quiet diplomacy” over the repatriation policy, has become increasingly vocal on the matter. The National Assembly has also passed a resolution demanding an end to the policy.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers welcomed a recent deal struck between North Korea and the United States that could potentially pave the way for regional negotiations over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

Under the U.S.-North agreement announced simultaneously this week, Pyongyang stands to gain U.S. nutritional assistance while suspending its uranium enrichment program (UEP) under U.N. supervision and halting its nuclear testing. The deal garnered additional interest as it came under the fledgling rule of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader who took over after the recent death of his father, Kim Jong-il.

Foreign Minister Kim called for the North to follow through the pledges in a timely manner while Yang hoped for the speedy resumption of the talks.

Seoul and Washington have long called on the North to take concrete denuclearization steps and warm inter-Korean relations before resumption of the forum.

The talks, which include the two Koreas, the U.S., Japan, Russia and China, have been stalled since 2009 when the North walked away over sanctions for its testing.

Experts say the North still needs to reach out to the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor the UEP shutdown, and work to warm cross-border ties before resumption of broader talks.

Yang also expressed hope that talks over a bilateral free trade agreement would proceed in a timely manner.

This was his third visit to South Korea since 2010. <Korea Times/Kim Young-jin >

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