U.S. backs Seoul on N. Korea defector issue

The United States officially supported South Korea’s efforts to stop China’s forced repatriation of North Korean defectors at a U.N. human rights panel on Friday.

Maria Otero, U.S. undersecretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights, said the U.S. supports South Korea.

“We share the Republic of Korea’s deep concerns regarding the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers from the DPRK in third countries,” Otero said at the 19th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. DPRK are the initials of the official name of North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Otero also said that the U.S. supports extending Marzuki Darusman’s term as U.N. special rapporteur on North Korean human rights.

Separately, the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China is scheduled to hold a hearing Monday in Washington to address the issue of North Korean defectors.

Witnesses include Suzanne Scholte, chairman and founding member of the North Korea Freedom Coalition; Han Song-hwa, a North Korean refugee who was detained in China, and then in North Korea after being repatriated; Jo Jin-hye, another North Korean defector; and Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea.

On Friday, Seoul’s Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan renewed calls for China to stop forcibly repatriating North Korean defectors during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.

Public criticism here has increased against Beijing for deporting defectors back to the repressive state against their will, despite the possibility of harsh punishment, including torture and execution.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)