ID :
189344
Fri, 06/17/2011 - 23:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/189344
The shortlink copeid
U.S. concerned about plight of N. Korean refugees
The United States on Friday expressed concern over the plight of North Korean refugees, responding to a stand-off between the two Koreas over the fate of nine North Koreans in the South.
The nine people -- three men, two women and four children -- reached the South on two boats a week ago and expressed their intention to defect, according to South Korean officials.
"The United States remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation in North Korea and the plight of North Korean refugees and asylum seekers," a spokesperson at the State Department said by phone on a customary condition of anonymity.
The brief, formal response came a day after the State Department's new spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said in a press briefing that she was unaware of the reported defection of nine North Koreans.
Pyongyang has demanded Seoul immediately repatriate them, issuing threats of worsening inter-Korean relations.
Seoul has a long-standing policy of accepting any North Korean defectors who want to live in the South, and repatriating any North Koreans who stray into the South if they want to return.
More than 21,000 North Korean people have defected to the capitalist South, fleeing a communist homeland stricken with chronic food shortages and harsh political oppression.
The nine people -- three men, two women and four children -- reached the South on two boats a week ago and expressed their intention to defect, according to South Korean officials.
"The United States remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation in North Korea and the plight of North Korean refugees and asylum seekers," a spokesperson at the State Department said by phone on a customary condition of anonymity.
The brief, formal response came a day after the State Department's new spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said in a press briefing that she was unaware of the reported defection of nine North Koreans.
Pyongyang has demanded Seoul immediately repatriate them, issuing threats of worsening inter-Korean relations.
Seoul has a long-standing policy of accepting any North Korean defectors who want to live in the South, and repatriating any North Koreans who stray into the South if they want to return.
More than 21,000 North Korean people have defected to the capitalist South, fleeing a communist homeland stricken with chronic food shortages and harsh political oppression.
