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A coalition of activists on Tuesday demonstrated in front of the Central Government Complex in Sejongno, Seoul against the South Korean government¡¯s repatriation of 22 North Koreans. The National Intelligence Service had sent 22 North Koreans back to North Korea on Feb. 8 saying they were lost at sea and wanted to return to the North. But according to the Yonhap news agency on Sunday, rumors have spread in South Hwanghae Province, North Korea, that the 22 people including three teenagers were executed immediately after they returned.
The Committee for Democratization of North Korea demanded that the government explain why it returned the North Koreans and hold officials concerned accountable. It also asked the government to ascertain that the 22 are safe, saying the rumors could well be true.
Son Jung-hun, the secretary-general of the committee, said the 22 people may have been executed, given that North Korea has not commented on the matter. ¡°North Koreans are often punished if they are found to make a trip to China without permission. The chance is low that the returned 22 people are safe after they were caught secretly sailing off to South Korea,¡± he said.
The committee slammed the South Korean government¡¯s methods of questioning North Korean defectors. Han Chang-kwon, the head of an organization of North Korean escapees, said, ¡°South Korean investigators kept threatening to return me to North Korea while I was being questioned for six months. The 22 would have been terrified by the questioning and might have not expressed their hope to find asylum here.¡± Han demanded the NIS make records of the questioning public.
Ten representatives of North Korean defectors¡¯ organizations conveyed a protesting statement to the government on Tuesday. They will also send a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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