The First Two . . .

. . . defectors from North Korea arrive today.

I’m glad the North Koreans have paid attention to our efforts and are already taking advantage of them. I yield to no one in my enthusiasm for the North Korean Human Rights Act overall; however, I have two reservations. Really.

First, the President hasn’t signed the NKHRA into law yet, which means Section 302 asylum still isn’t available to these two individuals.

Second, the North Koreans are too emotionally scarred and culturally different to make an easy adaptation to life here in the U.S. Some of them barely get by in South Korea, partly because some of the South Koreans treat them like servants. Are we prepared for a large-scale influx? Where would we put them? Should we plan for a facility where they can be trained to adapt to life in the United States? Where should that facility be?

That being said, the NKHRA’s good points far outweigh the bad, and even Section 302 was probably really meant to pressure South Korea into meeting its own moral obligations. If the news coverage continues to be favorable, it might work that way. We should also be prepared, however, to make a success of the NKHRA by planning for some of the obvious concerns.

Of course, the best place for a North Korean refugee is a democratic North Korea. That’s the real promise of the NKHRA.

UPDATE: These two were arrested in Mongolia. It’s rumored that a North Korean sympathizer tipped the authorities off. There’s some chance they might make it to South Korea, but it doesn’t look good for them. Hat tip: Marmot.

Meanwhile, 20 others got into the South Korean Embassy in Beijing (video!), which is in addition to the 44 who entered the Canadian Embassy last week. Don’t even get me started on the American School. There are things in this world that confer just as much protection as diplomatic status–even in Beijing.

The total picture: despite the setbacks, the trickle threatens to become a flood, and it does seem to be more than a coincidence that it’s all happening right after the NKHRA passed.