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BEIJING -- Of the nine North Korean defectors who were handed over to Chinese police on Sept. 27 after they broke into the American School in Shanghai, two minors have been freed and were currently under protection at an undisclosed location, an official from the Korean Embassy in Beijing said Friday.
The official said, "I understand that the Chinese side first released the minors out of humanitarianism… We are negotiating with the Chinese side so that the rest could come to South Korea in accordance with their individual wishes."
The two who were released were girls under the age of 18, and they will be able to move to a third country next week following the holiday period in China.
The U.S. side, too, was known to be closely negotiation with the Chinese to ensure the defectors' safety. The U.S. contended that it could not directly protect the defectors since they entered a school, not a diplomatic facility.
(Jo Jung-shik, jscho@chosun.com )
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