Demonstrators protests China’s arrests of North Korean defectors
REPORTING FROM SEOUL -– Angry demonstrators staged a rally Tuesday near the Chinese Embassy here to protest China’s arrests of dozens of North Korean defectors who face torture, imprisonment and even death if returned to their homeland.
For years, human rights advocates have criticized China’s refusal to recognize North Korean defectors and its policy of returning, or repatriating, all escapees from the North captured on its soil. Beijing’s stance has taken on more urgency in recent weeks, after new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to punish and even kill three generations of family members of anyone who tries to leave the impoverished North.
On Tuesday, ringed by police officers, more than 100 people gathered across the street from the Chinese Embassy, waving banners that read “The Chinese government should stop pushing North Korean defectors toward the guillotine” and “Forced repatriation is a death sentence.”
Pictured: South Korean activists stage a rally on behalf of North Korean refugees arrested by Chinese authorities. Credit: Lee Jin-man / Associated Press
Kim Jong-Il has died. I only grieve because progression is unlikely.
