US Likely to Allow Defectors to Enter US
Five or six North Korean defectors are currently staying at U.S. embassies in Southeast Asian countries and are soon expected to be allowed to enter the United States with refugee status, U.S. officials here said Tuesday. According to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, a large number of North Korean defectors are currently staying at U.S. embassies in several Southeast Asian countries, and about six to eight of them wish to come to the United States. The rest wish to be resettled in other countries, mostly South Korea, the official said. Another U.S. official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the remarks, saying a group of less than 10 North Koreans was waiting to enter the country with refugee status.The officials, however, refused to provide any more details, citing the sensitivity of the issue and possible disputes it may cause between the Asian countries and the U.S. or North Korea. The State Department refused to confirm the developments, only saying it will not comment on "specific cases." South Korean officials also remained tightlipped on the news. "It is a matter to be confirmed by the U.S. State Department," South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said in his weekly press briefing. "The government's basic principle is not to officially discuss the North Korean defector issue." Ban also played down last week's landmark decision by a U.S. court to grant asylum to a North Korean defector with South Korean citizenship. On Friday, The Los Angeles Immigration Court approved the asylum bid by the defector using a pseudonym of Seo Jae-sok, a former North Korean military officer who entered the U.S. through the Mexican border in 2004 with his wife and two children. "As far as I know, it is a decision by a local immigration court, not a decision by the U.S. administration," Ban said. Tuesday's reports of the defections came amid what seem to be efforts by Washington to directly work with North Korean refugees. The U.S. has rarely accepted any North Korean refugees despite the enactment of a special act on North Korean human rights early last year, requiring the country to actively assist North Korean defectors and accept those coming directly from their communist homeland. Jay Lefkowitz, special U.S. envoy for human rights appointed under the 2004 North Korean Human Rights Act, said last week that the country would "relatively soon" be ready to accept North Korean refugees.(Washington=Yonhap News Agency
