Vietnam says it is working to address case of North Korean defectors
Vietnam said Thursday it is working to resolve the fate of six people believed to be North Koreans who recently sought refuge at the French and Swedish embassies in Hanoi. Last Friday afternoon, four people claiming to be North Koreans entered the French Embassy while another two entered the Swedish Embassy on Monday night. Diplomats from both those countries have declined to specify whether the six are asking for political asylum. The North Korean embassy in Hanoi has said it has no information on the matter.
North Korean refugees have made well-publicized attempts to seek political asylum at foreign embassies in other countries, most notably in China, but this was believed to be among the first bids for asylum in Vietnam. "The French and Swedish embassies have contacted us and informed us about this issue. We are contacting concerned parties to address this issue in accordance with Vietnamese law and international law and on a humanitarian basis and in line with the actual situation," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung.
Dung said Vietnam has not actually confirmed the six are North Koreans. "To date, we have not officially recognized any North Korean citizens present in Vietnam," he said. The situation is politically awkward for Vietnam, which shares ideological ties with communist North Korea but also has very strong economic and diplomatic relations with South Korea. Dung's comments coincided with news that 44 North Koreans who spent three months in the Canadian Embassy in China have been allowed to leave that country.
More than 5,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War. Last year, the number of defectors arriving in the South reached 1,285, up from 1,140 in 2002 and 583 in 2001. Many North Koreans fleeing hunger and repression in their country cross the long border with China before heading to other countries. Hundreds, if not thousands, are believed to be hiding in Vietnam, Thailand, and other neighboring nations.
The Koreas were divided in 1945. Their border remains sealed and heavily guarded following the Korean War that ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
The Associated Press - December 23, 2004
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