Category Archives: China

NGOs, Lawmakers Receive Update on LFNKR Activities

China Claims 62 NK Defectors Not Repatriated Yet 

Beijing officials are denying media reports that they repatriated 62 North Korean defectors. South Korea’s Joong Ang Daily stated on Nov. 12 that China is denying earlier news reports of returning the 62 to North Korea. Authorities in Beijing are reportedly claiming that the defectors are still undergoing processing prior to repatriation at a detention center near the border with North Korea. 

Lawmakers Protest Aid Worker Imprisonment

To Chinese Ambassador

Below is the text of a post card mailed by many Grand National Party members of the National Assembly, South Korea. The card was addressed to the Chinese Ambassador stationed in South Korea.

Chinese Government Siezes More Refugees

65 Refugees, 2 Rescue Workers 

LFNKR, together with all other human rights and humanitarian organizations, calls for China to release immediately the 65 North Korean refugees and the 2 Korean rescue workers, who have been arrested and are being unjustly held in prison.

LFNKR received the following English translation of a statement issued in Korean by the Democracy Network Against the North Korean Gulag. 

13-year-old Boy Escapes NK Prison, Relates His Story

Translation of Letter from Young Refugee

The following letter was sent to us by human rights activist Sin-U Nam, who received it by email. He says:

Friends,

I read a terrible story on the Korean websites last night. This is a story of a boy from North Korea, now hiding inside China somewhere. I have read many stories of the NK refugees, but this may be the worst. It made me physically sick.

Asylum Seekers Arrested inside American School

Chinese police take women and children away

On Monday, the 27th of September, 8 North Korean women and children entered the Elementary school building of the Shanghai American School, where school administrators called Chinese Police, then surrendered the refugees to the authorities.

Below is an email our organization received directly from an eyewitness at the school, describing what happened. That message is followed by a statement apparently issued by the school administrator.

29 Seek Sanctuary in Japanese School

Beijing, China

On Wednesday, the first of September 2004, at around 10:30 AM, a group of 29 North Korean refugees, which included 3 children, 15 women and 11 men, entered a Japanese school in Beijing, and requested asylum.

That same afternoon, all refugees were transferred to the consulate section of the Japanese embassy, where they are being protected. In previous cases, once refugees are handed over to Chinese authorities, within a few days they are repatriated to North Korea, where they face severe punishment and in a few extreme cases, summary execution.

North Korea’s Vendetta

Kim Jong Il Retaliates Against Family Members of Public Accuser

FROM: The Society to Help Returnees to North Korea, A Japanese NGO

1. Six North Korean refugees
Six North Korean refugees who escaped from North Korea and were arrested in Shanghai, China were deported to North Korea. The six, who are in mortal danger, are the elder son, the second son and a niece of Mrs. Shin Jung Ae, as well as the second son’s wife and two children.

Choi Yong Hun Not Receiving His Mail in Prison

First Some Good News: 

The South Korean aid worker, Kim Hee-tae, was found “not guilty” last month and released after being detained for nearly two years.

He was arrested while leading a group of North Korean defectors to Beijing to submit an official request for refugee status.