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Two N. Korean defectors in Britain jailed after caught at cannabis farm
SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Yonhap) -- Two North Korean defectors living in Britain were jailed after they were caught working at a secret cannabis farm, a U.S. broadcaster reported Saturday.
Radio Free Asia (RFA), monitored in Seoul, said a Liverpool court sentenced this week the North Korean men -- who lived in the country under refugee status -- to jail terms, after they were arrested in March during a police raid of a cannabis farm in Southport, a town on the Irish Sea coast.
Cannabis, a flowering plant, can be cultivated to produce marijuana. Both the cultivation and possession of the plant for recreational use are outlawed in most countries.
The British police discovered 202 cannabis plants in the raid, estimated to have a street value of between ￡20,000 (US$39,602) to ￡30,000.
A man identified only by his surname Rim, came to Britain in June of last year and was granted asylum, according to the broadcaster. He received a two-year jail sentence.
Rim was reported to have been offered a job growing plants for ￡220 a week, plus free accommodation and food, while working at a Korean grocery store in New Malden.
New Malden, a town in the southwestern London suburbs, is home to one of the largest South Korean expatriate communities in Europe.
The other man, last name Ho, was sentenced to six months in jail. Ho came to Britain last April and was also granted asylum, according to RFA. He met Rim in London, the report said.
Ho reportedly said he had helped a Chinese man transfer some of the plants to larger pots.
About 850 people presumed to be North Korean defectors reside in Britain, among whom 450 or more have applied for refugee status
A total of 130 North Korean defectors were granted refugee status in Britain last year, but all of them had already obtained South Korean citizenship, according to a report by the U.S.-based radio broadcaster Voice of America.
The defectors are said to have chosen to live in Britain after failing to adapt to life in South Korea.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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