Defectors – Page 5

December 9, 2006

New Report on North Korean Refugees

The report, from the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, mainly deals with the problem of absorbing refugees into South Korean society. There are five authors; Andrei Lankov wrote one chapter, and Marcus Noland and Stephen Haggard edited the paper itself. It’s a long read, so in a few days’ time, I may bump this post up, and those of us who’ve read it can discuss further. Really, from what I’ve read, it sounds like an open letter...

Defectors/Human Rights/Refugees

June 20, 2006

Shenyang Four Three Update

Several days ago, I reported that the Shenyang Four would be allowed to leave China safely. This latest report doesn’t directly contradict that, but … A diplomatic source in Seoul said yesterday the United States will accept three of four North Korean asylum-seekers now in the U.S. Consulate General in Shenyang, China. The source said Washington had informed Seoul of the decision. The four North Koreans first entered the South Korean diplomatic premises in that city, but on May 6...

China/Defectors/Human Rights/Refugees/U.S. & Korea

June 1, 2006

Korea Diary, 1 June 06

The latest word on the first six North Korean refugees to come to the United States is inspiring: During the dinner, the six were tearful. “I never thought time was so precious,” said a 32-year-old former North Korean soldier, who is now calling himself Sin Joseph. “But, now, I don’t want to waste any second, any minute.” He said he has two goals “• to learn English and to earn a license as an auto mechanic. Sin Joseph escaped to...

Appeasement/Defectors/Diplomacy/Human Rights/Humor/Satire/NK Economics/Refugees/Six-Party Talks/Uncategorized

May 22, 2006

Modern-Day Comfort Women Describe Escape and Survival

In a follow-on to interviews they gave here, some of the first six North Korean refugees are talking about their escapes from the North. Here is an excerpt from the Dong-a Ilbo’s report: A woman who shared the same cell with Chan-mi died of malnutrition with her whole body swollen; another woman she witnessed was beaten to death. Chan-mi wept when she said, “When I was pardoned last year in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Korean Workers’ Party...

Activism/China/China & Korea/Defectors/Famine & Food Aid/Human Rights/Human Trafficking/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized

May 19, 2006

Four N. Korean Refugees Enter U.S. Embassy in China

[Updated 5/21; scroll down.] The Chosun Ilbo reports that a new group of North Korean refugees is under U.S. protection, this time in China. Four North Korean refugees have reportedly moved from the Korean Consulate in Shenyang, China to the U.S. mission to seek asylum there. If they succeed, they would become the second group of defectors from the Stalinist country to be accepted in the U.S., after six who were given official refugee status there via a Southeast Asian...

"United" Nations/China/China & Korea/Defectors/Human Rights/Human Trafficking/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized

May 18, 2006

Senior N. Korean Scientist Defects

[Updated 5/18; scroll down.] The bad news is that he’s headed for South Korea, which will try to keep a tight lid on him: According to the official at the South Korean human rights group, the North Korean defector headed a provincial committee of the General Federation of Science and Technology of Korea while in the communist state. If he comes to the South, the defector would be the highest ranking scientist from the reclusive North ever to defect to...

Defectors/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/WMD

May 14, 2006

Links of Interest

Richardson has already linked it, but I want to add is that this one could be very, very important to what happens in North Korea. The United States is considering economic sanctions on Chinese banks which have business transactions with North Korean companies allegedly implicated in the development or proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), a news report said Sunday. ================= Rep. Henry Hyde, Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, has a message for President Junichiro Koizumi. Hyde,...

Activism/An Alliance?/Anti-Americanism/Censorship/China/China & Korea/Defectors/Democracy/Diplomacy/History/Human Rights/Korean History/Korean Law/Korean Politics/News Links/NK Economics/North Korea/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized/Washington Views/WMD

May 12, 2006

MUST READ: WSJ Interview with Newly Arrived North Korean Refugees

“Before we begin this interview, I want to thank God for bringing us to this land of dreams. We sincerely thank President George Bush and the American government for letting us enter as refugees.” She bows slightly, closes her notebook, and prepares to relive her ordeal. Just go read it. Now. A big hat tip to a reader for fowarding this one.

China & Korea/Defectors/Human Rights/Human Trafficking/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized/Washington Views

May 9, 2006

Sen. Brownback to Hold Press Conference on NK Refugees Tomorrow

The people of North Korea don’t have a better friend than Senator Sam Brownback. Unfortunately, you will need a press pass to get past the imperious bitch person at the front desk. Let’s just hope that that the organizations that hold this monopoly will give us reasonably complete reports (reporters and editors). Might this be a time to suggest giving more press passes to bloggers, who are much more likely to publish fairly complete reports of the politicians’ statements, the...

Defectors/Human Rights/Human Trafficking/Refugees/Uncategorized/Washington Views

May 8, 2006

We Are (Not) One, Part 2

According to this unscientific-looking survey, half of the North Koreans living in South Korea would prefer to live in the United States, despite differences of language and culture and a lifetime of anti-American brainwashing. Why? A survey conducted by the Chosun Ilbo on Monday among 100 North Korean refugees who settled in South Korea found that 50 would go to the U.S. given a choice and 46 South Korea. The others were not sure. Of those who chose the U.S.,...

Defectors/Human Rights/Korean Politics/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized

May 8, 2006

Refugees Reax, Part 2

We have learned, via the Donga Ilbo that the arrival airport was Los Angles. The Donga also speculates about the meaning of the U.S. decision to comply with its own law and concludes that the admission of “common” refugees means that the U.S. is also preparing to clamp down hard on North Korea diplomatically and economically. While I hope that’s indeed the case, the conclusion ignores the fact that plenty of those in Congress (Leach and Lantos, to name two)...

"United" Nations/China & Korea/Defectors/Human Rights/Human Trafficking/Refugees/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized

May 7, 2006

Reaction to the Arrival of North Korean Refugees

The arrival of the first six North Korean refugees — including survivors of concentration camps and sexual slavery — could mark a tipping point in the politics of North Korean human rights. The timing of the arrival is either a fortunate coincidence or the height of shrewdness. Local elections are coming up in South Korea on May 31st, and with the human rights issue having created a clear schism (see here, here, and here) between the United States and South...

An Alliance?/Defectors/Human Rights/Korean Politics/Refugees/Six-Party Talks/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized/Washington Views

May 4, 2006

Refugees Update

[Update: Richardson picks up several other reports to the same effect. Things seem to be moving, and you have to wonder what could happen next now that the word has started to spread.] The Chosun Ilbo reports fresh signs of progress that the State Department is finally aboard the love train on North Korean refugees. A group of North Korean defectors in Southeast Asia is reportedly seeking asylum in the United States. In an interview with Korea’s Yonhap News, a...

An Alliance?/Appeasement/China/China & Korea/Defectors/Diplomacy/Human Rights/North Korea/Refugees/Southeast Asia/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized/Washington Views

May 1, 2006

Has a U.S. Embassy Accepted NK Defectors?

[Update: link fixed, thanks!] Via the Chosun Ilbo: Some five or six North Korean defectors are reportedly preparing to enter the U.S. under the protection of its embassy in a Southeast Asian country as Washington prepares to make good on a pledge to grant asylum to more refugees from the Stalinist country. Sources in the U.S. government and Congress said Thursday as soon as procedural matters with the Asian country are resolved, the North Koreans will make their way to...

Activism/Defectors/Human Rights/Refugees/Southeast Asia/U.S. & Korea/Uncategorized/Washington Views

April 29, 2006

First N. Korean Gets U.S. Asylum, But What Does This Really Mean for NKHRA Compliance?

Updated 4/30; scroll down “We can and will do more to protect North Korean refugees. . . . We hope that very, very soon, we can welcome North Korean refugees here in the United States.” — Amb. Jay Lefkowitz, April 28, 2006 WASHINGTON, April 28 (Yonhap) — The Los Angeles Immigration Court has granted asylum to a North Korean defector after he awaited a decision in the U.S. for the past 20 months, his lawyer said Friday. The final ruling...

Defectors/Human Rights/Refugees/U.S. & Korea

April 29, 2006

Ma Young Ae Update

The Daily NK is offering up some investigative reporting to back up its skepticism about Ms. Ma’s asylum claims. Ms. Ma, a former North Korean counterintel agent who worked in China until her defection in 2000, is petitioning for political asylum in the United States because of alleged South Korean persecution. Read and decide for yourself, but one point in the Daily NK’s favor: threatening people to silence them is persection; offering them fat bribes to keep quiet (even if...

Censorship/Defectors/Korean Law/Refugees/Uncategorized

April 28, 2006

Time Asia on the Underground Railroad

My biggest regret of my recent trip to Korea was that I wasn’t able to sit down and talk with the Rev. Tim Peters at length. Tim is one of the kindest, most selfless, most sincere people I’ve met in my life. He told me to watch for this piece in Time, which begins with this refugee woman’s description of the guard who killed her unborn baby: Hwang, Kim says, referred repeatedly to the baby as “the Chink,” because the...

Activism/Asia/China & Korea/Defectors/Human Rights/Human Trafficking/Refugees