Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Saturday, February 18, 2006
Updated Jan.18,2006 21:37 KST
U.S. ‘May Grant Asylum to N.K. Defectors’
The U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, Jay Lefkowitz, has reportedly hinted that the U.S. could depart from practice and accept North Korean defectors who want to come to the U.S. starting this year.
Lefkowitz dropped the hint in a meeting with Chun Young-woo, a Foreign Ministry official who visited the U.S. last week, according to a government official. Lefkowitz’s remarks came in response to Seoul’s argument that the U.S. is only paying lip service to North Korean human rights issues and doing almost nothing to protect North Korean defectors, the official added.
The envoy said he was new to the job and had not had enough time to review implementation of the act.
The official stressed that the U.S. has made no commitment to grant asylum to North Koreans, merely that it will review the measures.
The U.S. has admitted a grand total of nine North Korean exiles since 1997, none of them since the implementation of the North Korean Human Rights Act , which recognizes the refugee status of North Korean defectors and was passed in 2004.
url:
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/ht...601180026.html
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02-18-2006, 10:03 AM
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