» 02/21/2012 14:44 KOREA - CHINA Seoul marches to save the 33 North Koreans who fled to China by Joseph Yun Li-sun A demonstration outside the Chinese Embassy in South Korea calls on Beijing not to repatriate a group of North Korean refugees who face death if they return home. For the first time, even actors choose to manifest.
Seoul (AsiaNews) - MPs, students, religious leaders and for the first time, some actors are marching in Seoul to ask the Chinese authorities not to repatriate 33 North Koreans fleeing the regime of Kim Jong-un, and currently held in prison in Changchun. The protest is being held in front of the Beijing embassy in South Korea: China must decide the refugees' fate by tomorrow.
The North Koreans were arrested on February 8 in Changchun and are currently detained in a prison of this city in northeastern China. According to some sources, at the time the group - with the help of a local organization - was trying to flee to South Korea often the safest route to flee from the North to the South is not the boundary between the two countries.
Among those asking for clemency for the group are Cha In-pyo and Lee Seong-mi, both well known South Korean actors. Cha's manager told the Daily NK: "After overnight consultations, my client decided to demonstrate against the repatriation of the North Koreans. He will march before the Chinese embassy." For his part, Lee said: "We know the pain of returnees: it would be impossible for me not to participate."
They are joined by Robert Park, a Korean Christian missionary with American citizenship. In an appeal published a few days ago, he writes: "If they come home they risk death. The Seoul government should take action immediately, blocking the return of these people and give them a home."
The situation for the 33 North Koreans is very dangerous. In January, the government of North Korea (fearing mass emigration in the situation of political instability that followed the death of Kim Jong-il and the succession of his son Kim Jong-un) announced increased penalties for those who leave the country. North Koreans can not leave the country without official permission. Those who do, and are suspected of being in touch with organizations linked to South Korea, might be sentenced to death.
China, for its part, considers all persons who illegally enter from North Korea the same as economic migrants, they do not consider the problem of human rights violations in the neighboring country nor take into account that these people may be asylum seekers. Although it signed the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees, the Beijing government prevents UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from contacing North Koreans in China.
