International protest for N.K. refugees

Human rights activists in Korea are to join an international protest to save North Korean refugees on Sept. 22.

The event will see protesters take to the streets in 24 cities in 13 countries around the world.

In Seoul, people will demonstrate for an end to China’s policy of forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees back to the country, where protesters say they face torture, imprisonment and even public execution.

North Korea People’s Liberation Front and Free North Korea Radio are organizing the demonstration and will hand in a petition at the Chinese Embassy in Korea at noon.

Participating NGOs include PSCORE, Free the NK Gulag, North Korea Women’s Solidarity for Human Rights, and the Committee for the Democratization of North Korea.

The protest is being backed by the International Parliamentarians’ Coalition for North Korean Refugees and Human Rights led by GNP floor leader Hwang Woo-yea. The group, which also includes Japanese cabinet member Masaharu Nakagawa, U.S. congressman Ed Royce, and Mongolian lawmaker Lamjav Gundalai, will send a letter to the Chinese President Hu Jintao calling on China to follow international law on refugees’ rights.