Contrary to Chen’s argument, South Korea has long been asking Beijing not to repatriate the North Koreans and stated that they are accepting these refugees in South Korea after they apply for asylum. In an attempt to apply more pressure to Beijing, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has stated that these refugees are South Korean nationals by law and that he will take their cases to the U.N. [2] “Although China is a state party to the U.N. Refugee Convention, it has prevented the U.N. refugee agency, the U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR), from gaining access to the North Koreans in China.” [3]
Recently, Chinese repatriation of over thirty North Koreans, many of whom have family members in South Korea, has created a public outcry in South Korea and a comment from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “We believe that refugees should not be repatriated and subjected once again to the dangers that they fled from. . . we urge all countries in the region to cooperate in the protection of North Korean refugees within their territories.” [4]
The following is Chen Yan’s article:]