Request to repatriate North Korean defectors detained last month to South Korea
Translation of the Chosun Ilbo article written by Lee Min-seok, Washington DC Correspondent
Posted on August 24, 2021 03:00
The American Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported that the Chinese government forcibly repatriated about 50 North Korean defectors who had been imprisoned for one to two years in a Shenyang prison in the Liaoning Province through the Dandong customs office. Regarding this issue, Young Kim (Korean name Young Oak Kim, age 59, Republican Party), a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, visited the Blue House last month and asked President Moon Jae-in to repatriate the North Korean defectors detained in China to South Korea. As a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and co-chair of the Congressional Study Group on Korea, she spoke with this newspaper for two days, on the 2nd and 10th (local time), through video conferencing and written communication, “President Moon personally responded to (my) request for repatriation with that he will take additional measures if I would send him additional information,” and went on to say, “It’s been over a month and I still haven’t heard from the South Korean government and embassy.”
“As soon as I returned to the U.S., I contacted Ambassador to the U.S. Lee Soo Hyuck to tell him of the meeting and the information I knew,” Rep. Kim said. “But there has been no feedback since then.” She continued, “While time was flying by, news broke that China forced 50 North Korean defectors back to North Korea,” and went on, “It is still unclear whether the news was true, but if they were truly sent back, they were either sent to a forced labor camp or executed.” “It is difficult to fathom that President Moon did not keep his word when he personally promised to take care of the lives of these innocent people.”
In the process of asking the South Korean government to rescue the North Korean defectors, Rep. Kim heard from a government official that, “this is a problem to be solved by the U.S., not something to ask the South Korean government.” She said, “It was difficult to grasp when I heard from a South Korean government official that as an American lawmaker, I was knocking on the wrong door asking (the South Korean government) on an issue that should be raised by the U.S. State Department.” She continued, “These North Korean defectors are people who risked their lives to go to South Korea. It makes no sense for the South Korean government to ignore such humanitarian issues.”
“I want to remind President Moon that there have been cases of the South Korean government rescuing North Korean defectors through diplomatic channels in the past,” she said. “I understand that there are still many people detained in China besides North Korean defectors who were forced back to the North. The South Korean government should keep their promise now to negotiate with China through a back channel so that the North Korean defectors can be released.”
Regarding the significantly reduced scale of the ROK-U.S. joint military drills, “The ROK-U.S. alliance’s military preparation for peace on the Korean Peninsula should not depend on appeasing the unreliable and reckless (North Korea) regime.” When asked about when North Korea’s Kim Yo-jong demanded that the drills be canceled and the lawmakers of the ruling party requested that the drills be postponed, she said, “South Korea’s ruling forces are anxious to not to offend North Korea on this issue compared to any other issue.” “This administration has tried to take a conciliatory approach even in the past. What was the result?” she said. “The North Korean people are more oppressed and there’s been an upgrade to their nuclear weapons.”
