Seoul makes rare protest to China over repatriation of North Korean defectors
- The South Korean unification ministry said it believes that recent reports that defectors had been repatriated were true
- Beijing has denied the reports and Seoul is usually reluctant to air its concerns about the issue in public
China has always denied doing this, but Koo Byoung-sam, a spokesman for the South Korean ministry of unification, told a press briefing on Friday that reports several North Koreans had been repatriated from northeastern China appeared to be true.
He said the South Korean government had raised its concerns with Beijing.
“Our position is that under no circumstances should North Korean defectors be forcibly repatriated to North Korea against their free will. [It] is against the international norm of prohibiting forced repatriation,” said Koo.
“Our government regrets this situation, sternly raised this issue with China, and emphasised our position.”
The previous day, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, had denied the reports, saying Beijing had always handled the issue according to law and there are no “so-called defectors”.
“China has always maintained a responsible attitude, and dealt with them properly,” said Wang. “The government will continue to make diplomatic efforts to protect North Korean defectors.”