113037466023516059

N. Korean Man in Mexico to Seek Asylum in the United States

The Hankuk Ilbo report said the 46-year-old man, who escaped from North Korea into China and then to Mexico, said he planned either to apply for refugee status at an American consulate there or cross the border illegally. If the man decides to apply for asylum, his would be the first such application since the passage of U.S. legislation intended to ease the way for North Koreans seeking it. The legislation applies to all North Koreans except for those who have settled in South Korea after escaping from the North. A report to Congress under the new law said seven North Koreans applied for refugee status in 2005 but none were accepted.

Although that article oversimplifies the issue by avoiding the legal doctrine of “first refuge,” I absolutely agree that the U.S. State Department is doing as little as possible to take in North Korean refugees. I have fresh and reliable information from an impeccable source who doesn’t want to be named that U.S. embassies in Southeast Asian nations are still refusing to give sanctuary to North Koreans. It certainly goes against the spirit, if not the letter, of the NKHRA, which still isn’t fully funded.