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.
U.S. Congress Passes Bill to Aid North Koreans
Both houses of the U.S. Congress unanimously passed The North Korea Human Rights Act, then on 18 Oct. 2004, the president signed it into law. It provides useful new tools to help both those who flee the North Korean regime and those who are trapped inside the country.
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.