Seoul to Open New Refugee Center by 2012

On its face, this announcement is both interesting, and perhaps, understated:

The Ministry of Justice announced on Wednesday plans to build a retreat for refugees in Gyeonggi Province, aiming to open it in 2012. The ministry secured funds of W260 million in this year’s budget to design the facility, and is reportedly negotiating with the Ministry of Public Administration and Security for an appropriate site. [Chosun Ilbo]

Nowhere in the article does it say that the new center will be either primarily or partially for North Korean refugees, yet there are reasons to infer that it will be. First, South Korea has no great appreciation for ethnic and cultural diversity. Second, President Lee seems to have a sense of special responsibility to North Koreans, an increasing number of whom are crowded into immigration detention centers in Thailand. Third, the processing/deprogramming center at Hanawon is beyond capacity. Fourth, the number of new arrivals from the North continues to grow.

The failure to bring up the topic of North Korean refugees is understandable, given the North’s tendency toward bellicose reactions to such things. The administration is trying to get a new Unification Minister confirmed in spite of a withering attack by pro-appeasement lawmakers in the South, and probably doesn’t want to be seen as provoking the North.