YONHAP NEWS

Obama calls for Bush to raise N. Korean refugee deportation issue with China

   By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, July 18 (Yonhap) -- Presumptive U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Friday urged the Bush administration to press the issue of forced repatriation of North Korean defectors to China, often under fire for human rights violations.

   "When they do leave, they should not be forcibly returned into persecution; they should have the protection to which asylum seekers and refugees are entitled under international law," Obama said in a letter to the Korean Church Coalition (KCC) for North Korea Freedom obtained here Friday. "These issues should be on the table when we talk to countries in the region, including China."
Obama's remarks come just weeks ahead of Bush's planned trip to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics.

   Human rights activists have demanded that Bush refrain from going to Beijing, citing the Chinese government's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy movements in Tibet and alleged suppression of religious freedom and deportation of North Korean defectors.

   U.S. officials, however, said Washington has mixed feelings about Beijing, citing the Chinese government's role in the six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

   In the letter, Obama pledged to side with international efforts to address the plight of North Korean refugees, saying, "I will continue to proudly stand with Korean Americans and with people of goodwill around the world in calling attention to the plight of North Korean refugees hiding in the shadow of injustice."
U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain also said in a separate letter to the KCC, "The United States must continue to bring attention of these refugees as we work to promote stability and security on the Korean Peninsula, and throughout the region."
China reportedly maintains a secret pact with its communist ally, North Korea, for the deportation of North Korean refugees said to number in the hundreds of thousands. North Koreans taken back home allegedly face imprisonment or execution.

   China regards North Korean refugees as illegal immigrants.

   South Korea has accepted more than 10,000 North Korean refugees who made their way through China and Southeast Asia. The United States has also allowed entry of 61 North Korean refugees since 2004 when Congress passed the North Korean Human Rights Act to support North Korean refugees and help improve human rights conditions in the isolated communist state.

   hdh@yna.co.kr
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