Jang Kil Su, a 17 year-old North Korean defector, and his family began a sit-in Monday at the Beijing office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), demanding that they be granted refugee status and sent to South Korea. The family who had been in hiding outside Beijing arrived in the city on June 22 and with the help of Moon Gook-han, an official of a South Korean NGO dedicated to help Kil Su and his family, succeeded in entering the UNHCR office. There were no attempts to hold them back from entering the office.
Moon, in a telephone interview, said that the family met with Colin Mitchell, the head of the UNHCR office in Beijing and submitted an application to seek refuge in South Korea. The family reportedly threatened to commit suicide if their demands were not granted.
In response to this, Michell urged the family to restrain themselves as this incident must be discussed with many countries including China, promising that he would do his best.
It remains to be seen how China, which has never granted the refugee status to North Korean defectors, will respond to this incident, being sensitive to international opinions as it is keen to host the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. A considerable diplomatic impact is expected in the wake of China's decision.
The South Korean government announced Monday that this issue must be resolved in a humanitarian manner and delivered its position to the UNHCR and China that the South will accept the family should they wish to come to South Korea. A government official said that it was desirable to grant the defectors refugee status and that the government was making efforts to this end.
(Yeo Si-dong, sdyeo@chosun.com)
