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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Ruling party proposes citizenship certificates for Nork defectors |
| 2012-02-23 |
| SEOUL -- The ruling party floated the idea Thursday of issuing certificates of South Korean citizenship to North Korean defectors detained in China as a way to save refugees facing repatriation to their communist homeland. The latest move comes as calls mount for China not to repatriate dozens of defectors arrested earlier this month to North Korea, where it is feared they will face harsh persecution and even execution. Nine lawmakers of the Saenuri Party and Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan held a meeting at the National Assembly earlier in the day to seek measures to pressure Beijing not to send back the refugees, whom China sees as "illegal trespassers," against their will. Lee Joo-young, the party's chief policymaker, said lawmakers belonging to the foreign affairs committee asked the government to consider issuing citizenship certificates to defectors in China to put them under South Korean protection. Kim said his ministry will review the party's proposal, according to Lee. It is still open to question whether laws would need to be revised to adopt such a suggestion or whether China would release such detainees if they could present Seoul-issued documents. Diplomatic missions abroad have issued South Korean passports to North Koreans who fled their homeland and arrived in other third countries. A special law enacted in 2008 obliges the South Korean government to help protect stateless defectors overseas on humanitarian grounds. "The legal issues faced by North Korean defectors are not a matter between certain countries, but a matter of the international community and human beings," the party's floor leader Hwang Woo-yea said during the meeting. "Chinese authorities should transparently abide by international law and procedures." |
| Posted by:Steve White |