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China has requested Thursday that Canada hand over the 44 North Korean defectors who entered the Canadian Embassy in Beijing.
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Shen Guofang said during a press briefing Thursday that they are opposed to North Korean defectors entering foreign embassies, due to safety concerns. He added that Canada should hand over the 44 North Korean defectors because they had illegally entered Chinese territory.
All eyes are on a possible change in China¡¯s policy toward North Korean defectors. This is the first time that China has asked for the handover of non-violent North Korean defectors seeking asylum in a foreign embassy over the past two to three years.
It has not been confirmed whether China has expressed a fundamental shift in stance or has strongly pressured Canada to hand over the defectors. The South Korean Embassy in China said that as the Canadian Embassy has not informed them of the details of China's request, the Koreans are still in the dark on the issue. Assistant Minister Shen outlined China¡¯s principles in dealing with North Korean defectors, at the briefing, by saying that China would handle the 44 North Korean defectors based on international and domestic laws, and humanitarianism. He also added that China has prepared protocol to deal with the North Korean defector issue.
Although Beijing is obliged to arrest North Korean defectors in China and repatriate them under an agreement with Pyongyang, it has consistently overlooked North Koreans who successfully enter foreign missions and settle in South Korea via a third country.
(Cho Jung-sik, jscho@chosun.com )
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