Murder

Today, a new report tells us how North Korea deals with those China sends back across the border:

North Korea has executed about 70 refugees who were captured in China and sent home, a South Korean group that helps North Korean refugees said yesterday, citing informants in China.

The Commission to Help North Korean Refugees, a private group in Seoul, said about eight or nine of the 70 executed last month were put to death in public to discourage others from trying to slip across the border into China.

It’s not the first report we’d heard of this, but if the tragedy can’t be undone, one hopes that adverse publicity could prevent the next one.

Hat tip to Dave at No Illusions, who highlighted a patently false statement in the story, which after all is from Reuters: “South Korea has worked behind the scenes to press China to allow the refugees to travel to the South.” It seems that South Korea’s anti-Unification Minister, Chung Dong-Young was not available for comment.