They entered the school through a back gate at about 9 a.m. and marched into the principal's office. The group was made up of 23 women, 6 men and 2 children aged 7 and 8 -- some had defected from the North only a month ago.

Twenty nine North Korean refugees entered the International Korean School in Beijing, China on Friday morning. Here, they are sitting around the principal's room.

The Korean international school is not a government-level diplomatic institution, so diplomatic immunity does not apply to it. Korean officials in China launched negotiations with the Chinese government so that the group can stay in the international school for a period of time under the consent of the Chinese government. The Korean embassy is currently filled to capacity with defectors from the North.

Recently, cases of North defectors forming groups to enter diplomatic institutions and international schools in China are alarmingly on the rise. Only last month, 29 people broke into a Japanese school and 44 people entered the Canadian embassy. On Sept. 15, 20 people entered the Korean embassy. In total, 102 North Korean defectors have entered diplomatic institutions in less than 50 days.

(englishnews@chosun.com )