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The U.S. government plans to break with long-established policy and start giving asylum to refugees from North Korea. Wording in the 2004 North Korean Human Rights Act that allows it to admit defectors from the Stalinist country has not yet been put into practice due to failure to confirm identities and objections from countries where the refugees were staying.
Jay Lefkowitz, the U.S. special envoy on North Korean Human rights, admitted to the activist group Freedom House in a closed-door meeting that the refugees are becoming a credibility problem for Washington. He also reportedly promised to become more active on the issue. In the meeting, which was attended 20 U.S. campaigners for North Korean human rights, Levkowitz said he would focus on rights, the issue of refugees and promoting greater openness in North Korea.
Participants said it was important that the U.S. takes on some of the refugees who ended up in a country other than South Korea. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also implied a policy shift by saying, ¡°We are reviewing our policies on refugese, reviewing them with DHS (Department of Homeland Security), reviewing them with the FBI, to see if we can find a way to participate in the refugee activities as well.¡± If it does admit them, it is likely to exacerbate tensions with North Korea in an already chilly climate because of Washington¡¯s sanctions and the North¡¯s nuclear ambitions.
The North Korean Human Rights Act, which went into effect in October of 2004, stipulates that North Korean refugees can seek asylum or residence in the U.S. despite the fact that they are automatically entitled to South Korean citizenship.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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