The ambassador's relaying of the government's official line is significant because it showed ruptures with China on the issue, despite both countries being traditional allies of North Korea. China has adopted a hardline stance on the issue of defectors, intensifying moves recently by urging the North to deploy more troops along their common border.

The ambassador suggested at a press conference held in tandem with Mongolia's Constitution Day Nov. 19 that the nation was treading a fine diplomatic line between the two Koreas, both of which it has established good relations with. He said Mongolia neither meant to offend North Korea and other countries in the region nor cause any conflicts of interest, adding, however, that defectors would not be repatriated once they had entered the country.

A visitor looks at the pictures of North Korean children dying from famine at the North Korea Holocaust Exhibition staged at the National Assembly early this month.

Regarding rumors that Washington, which recently passed the North Korean Human Rights Act, would provide economic aid to Mongolia in return for helping North Korean defectors make safe passage to the United States, the ambassador dismissed them as groundless speculation.

He said that Mongolia could not ignore the interests of neighboring states such as North Korea and China or act in a way that conflicted with its own law. This was interpreted as a sign that Mongolia intends to first consult with the other Asian countries before conforming to U.S. policy on defectors from the North.

(Park Sung-jun, sjpark@chosun.com )