[USFK Forums] S. Korea must press China harder on N. Korean defectors: Scholte

[C. Y. Lee]

[Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Monday, December 12, 2005]

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2005/12/09 20:46 KST

S. Korea must press China harder on N. Korean defectors: Scholte

By Moon Hae-won

SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Yonhap) -- An internationally renowned human rights activist Friday urged South Korea and the United States to press China harder for Beijing's alleged mass repatriation of North Korean defectors.


"We need to put more pressure economically and socially by calling for more pressure on them," Suzanne Scholte, the head of the U.S.-based human rights group North Korea Freedom Coalition said Friday.

Scholte was attending an international forum here on the human rights situations in North Korea.

China has never acknowledged the existence of a secret agreement with North Korea on the repatriation of North Korean refugees, but reports say Beijing has sent a number of North Korean defectors back to the North under the agreement.

Unconfirmed reports say more than 200,000 North Koreans have crossed the border with China to avoid economic and political hardship in their reclusive, impoverished homeland.

Hundreds of North Korean defectors have sought asylum in foreign missions in China for the past years and were flown to South Korea via third countries, although the Beijing government would not allow their status as political refugees but consider them as nothing more than economic migrators.

Human rights activists say China's flexible attitude on the North Korean defectors who seek asylum in foreign missions comes as the Beijing government does not want to encourage bad images of itself among he international community ahead of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games which China is banking on to greatly enhance its image.

"For example, there is a resolution in the U.S. Congress to change the venue for the 2006 Beijing Olympics," Scholte said. "China is very proud of sponsoring the international event, but what is the point of holding an international event at the venue if it contributes to human rights abuse ?"
Scholte works closely with the Midland Ministerial Alliance which is often believed to have the ear of the U.S. president, at least on human rights issues.

She said she has been working closely with the U.S. State Department since 1999.

"I talk to them all the time," she said. "Back in 1999, I started giving information to the state department, especially to the U.S. ambassadors who handle religious freedom."
She said she once provided a five page memo to Jay Lefkowitz, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights affairs.

Describing North Korea as the "worst regime in the world", Scholte urged the Seoul government to do more to address the North Korean human rights issue, saying "engaging in human rights ensure peace."
"South Korean government is passive and appeasement leads to war and deprivation and destruction," she said.

"China may not be too happy with Kim Jong-il, but Kim is their guy," she said. "We need to convenience China that instead of aiding 2 billion dollars to the North, imagine the economic reform of North Korea... it won't be too long before China starts selling stuff to the North."
angelamoon@yna.co.kr
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