120 N. Koreans seeking asylum in US: Report

About 120 North Korean refugees staying in third countries, not South Korea, after fleeing their communist homeland have applied for asylum in the United States, a U.S. radio station said Thursday, quoting a U.S. civic activist.

Judith Wood, president of the Los Angeles-based Human Rights Project, revealed the figure in a phone interview with Voice of America (VOA) and said the number of North Koreans to be allowed to settle in the U.S. permanently would increase.

The United States adopted a North Korean human rights law in 2004 aimed at facilitating the defection of North Koreans from their Stalinist country.

The law opened the way for North Korean escapees to seek asylum in the U.S. But it does not apply to those who have already settled in South Korea.

For the first time in May, the United States allowed six North Korean refugees staying in an unidentified Southeast Asian country to live permanently on its soil.

However, confusion has risen after a U.S. court reportedly approved recently asylum for two North Koreans who have acquired South Korean citizenship.

The latest case involved a 33-year-old woman who settled in South Korea in 2001. In April, a former North Korean army officer, Seo Jae-seok, who obtained South Korean citizenship in 1998, was granted asylum in the U.S.

The Seoul government has made inquires with the U.S. government about the two cases, according to government sources.

The same sources said about 20 similar cases are pending in U.S. courts.

Seoul, Aug. 18 (Yonhap News)