Some 420 North Korean refugees on Thursday ended a three-day hunger strike at an immigration detention center in Bangkok. Fortunately, a way has been found for the refugees to fly to South Korea after the detention center assured them that they will be sent to the South as soon as possible. But the hunger strike opened the question of our government's attitude in dealing with the North Korean refugee issue in Southeast Asia.

The Thais are generally sympathetic toward North Korean refugees. Early in April, 52 refugees from the North were captured on the Thai border. A senior police officer at the scene said they would be deported to North Korea, only to invite public censure. They have merely come to Thailand on their way elsewhere, one reader wrote in the English-language daily The Nation. How can we deport them to North Korea if they would evidently be put into jail, tortured or even executed?

In the past two or three years, North Korean refugees hiding in China have rushed to Thailand, thousands of kilometers away, by way of Burma, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, because crackdowns by the Chinese government blocked not only their path to foreign diplomatic missions in China but also their escape route to neighboring Mongolia.

Until a while ago, North Korean refugees, once they arrived in Bangkok, enjoyed the protection of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Though their identity verification alone took several months, there was no fear that they would be caught by police and deported to the North, as was the case in China. But since so many North Korean refugees come to Thailand, the Thai authorities feel under pressure.

The hunger strike raises concerns of a repeat of the situation in Vietnam three years ago. At the time, it was possible for refugees to travel to Vietnam from China and fly to South Korea. Refugees found out about this by word of mouth and rushed to Vietnam. When their number reached 468 at long last, it caused some conflict between South Korea and Vietnam. In the end, our government had no choice but to transport them belatedly to Seoul aboard a chartered airplane. But North Korea suspended inter-Korean relations in retaliation, and the Vietnamese route was closed.

The Thai route has therefore become the sole life line for North Korean refugees. And that life line could be severed at any moment unless everyone shares the responsibility. In November 1999, seven North Korean refugees reached Vladivostok through the Sino-Russian border and asked the UNHCR to recognize them as refugees. Although the UN High Commissioner himself intervened, they were eventually deported to North Korea by way of China. It is a reality that nothing can be done for the refugees, even with UNHCR intervention, if the countries involved do not want to help. That goes for Thailand too. If we rely on the Thai government for everything, the same thing could happen there. The North Korean refugee issue, in short, is one that our government must resolve in coordination with all Southeast Asian countries.

The North Koreans detained in the Bangkok immigration detention camp await being taken to South Korea in a space where they can barely move. They don't have enough toothbrushes and soap. The hygiene problems, especially those of female refugees, are indescribable.

If direct support is difficult, the government should at least send them blankets, sanitary towels, tissue paper, toothpaste, toothbrushes and medicine through humanitarian organizations. If they were also distributed to other inmates, nobody would resent the North Koreans.

The government should initiate programs to assist the poor in countries through which North Korean refugees travel -- Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Burma. Then those countries would treat our North Korean brothers and sisters with goodwill when they arrive there.

The column was contributed by Benjamin Yoon, secretary-general of the Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights.