South Korean Diplomacy . . . Like Tofu Mandu, But With Less Substance

Today, China sent seven North Korean refugees back to the death camps below the Yalu–er, make that, to the loving arms of their families–in its latest violation of the 1951 U.N. Convention on Refugees. China, of course, holds a Wonka golden ticket to the U.N. Security Council, giving it the power to confer international legitimacy and define righteousness itself.

What exhausts you the most about this story is the sheer lying fecklessness of the diplomats who are supposed to have a duty to protect these people. South Korea’s apathy about the suffering of North Koreans and China’s role in leading them to the slaughter are so far beyond concealment, one marvels that their diplomats go to such great lengths to pretend they care. No wonder Ambrose Bierce defined diplomacy as “the patriotic art of lying for one’s country.” Must one have his soul surgically removed to do such work? If you think that’s pretty cold, consider that it comes from a guy–me, not Bierce–who’s successfully defended a pretty sizeable collection of alleged rapists, kiddie porn pervs, thieves, rogues, and petty miscreants. Remember . . . alleged.

I was glad to see the Marmot‘s friends at the Chosun actually make this its top story in both its English and Korean editions. The South Korean Foreign Ministry’s crack guardians of human rights immediately snapped into action . . . and issued a statement expressing concern for those seven encumbrances to the peaceful reunification of the fatherland. “To his Excellency the Ambassador of the Peoples’ Republic of China, we are extremely concerned, yada yada yada . . . you know the drill, with all my love, deference, and tribute, Ban Ki-Moon.” China, always sensitive to the fact that tens of thousands of angry students are ever-poised to descend on its embassy in Seoul–oops, never mind–released a statement of its own:

We learned that North Korea does not punish defectors even when they are returned home nowadays if they are not political dissidents. We sent back those defectors because they wanted to do to meet their families. Also, we do not want this incident to cause problems in intra-Korean relations.

Emphasis mine. Well, that all seems sensible enough, right? No need to stock up on candles over this.

Of course, if you absolutely must have your protest fix, there’s always the next rehash of this. Let no one say that the South Korean left is uncaring. It just cares selectively.