|
|
|
 |
 Home
National
Politics/Diplomacy |
U.S. envoy on N.K. human rights denounces China for refugee repatriation
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. nominee for North Korea human rights envoy on Thursday denounced China for deportation of North Korean refugees, saying he will continue pressing Beijing on the matter.
Speaking at a Senate confirmation hearing, Robert King said, "We have raised these issues with the Chinese, and it would be my intention to continue to do that ... The Chinese have been less hospitable than we would like in terms of accepting these refugees and allowing them access to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees."
China, Pyongyang's staunchest communist ally, sees North Korean defectors as economic migrants rather than refugees, and deports them under a secret agreement with North Korea where they are persecuted.
Reports said that hundreds of thousands of North Korean defectors are hiding in China.
Most of the defectors cross the border with China to seek shelter, mainly in South Korea, which has received nearly 20,000 of them since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The U.S. has taken in about 80 North Korean refugees since the North Korean Human Rights Act was enacted years ago to help promote democracy in the communist nation.
King, a former congressional aide, was named in September as special envoy for North Korean human rights, replacing Jay Lefkowitz, who quit in January after three years of service.
Under the North Korean Human Rights Act, then President Bush appointed Lefkowitz in 2005 as special envoy on North Korean human rights affairs and provided financial aid to help improve human rights conditions in the North and accept North Korean defectors into the U.S.
The Congress extended the act for another four-year run, calling for "activities to support human rights and democracy and freedom of information in North Korea," and "assistance to North Koreans who are outside North Korea," plus 12-hour broadcasting to North Korea.
In his final report, Lefkowitz in January urged Obama to emphasize human rights in the multilateral talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions and proposed that the U.S. and its allies link any aid to Pyongyang with human rights improvements.
Lefkowitz was denied access to North Korea while in office, although he frequently visited South Korea and China to write reports.
China has been under fire for disallowing access to North Korean refugees by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton triggered controversy in February when she said that human rights violations should not serve as a hurdle to improvements in relations with China.
The remarks spawned concerns that the Barack Obama administration may follow his predecessor, George W. Bush, in circumventing the sensitive rights issue in order not to provoke China, which plays a key role in the six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
The U.S. last month listed North Korea among the eight worst offenders of religious freedom, saying the reclusive state severely restricts religious activity.
The 2009 Report on International Religious Freedom put the North on the list of "countries of specific concern" for the ninth consecutive year since 2001.
The seven others are Iran, Myanmar, China, Sudan, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.
The U.S. State Department also issued an annual human rights report in February expressing concerns about human trafficking and repatriation of North Korean refugees, and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in May listed North Korea among 12 nations where freedom is squashed.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
|
| |
|
|
