ID :
207019
Wed, 09/14/2011 - 09:59
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/207019
The shortlink copeid
(LEAD) Japan considers sending rare N. Korean defectors to S. Korea: reports
(ATTN: UPDATES with Kyodo report of Japan's confirmation in paras 1-4; AMENDS headline; ADDS photo)
TOKYO, Sept. 14 (Yonhap) -- Japanese authorities on Wednesday confirmed the nine North Koreans who were found adrift aboard a boat off Japan's west coast earlier this week as defectors and are considering transferring them to South Korea, local media reported.
The nine North Koreans, including three children, have been questioned by Japanese authorities and reportedly expressed their wish to defect to South Korea, in a rare defection from the North to Japan.
They were in good health after spending the night on a Japanese coast guard vessel at a port in Kanazawa of Ishikawa prefecture, Kyodo news agency reported, citing officials.
Japanese authorities are expected to issue a temporary landing permit for the North Korean defectors later on Wednesday, Kyodo said.
Early on Wednesday, the Yomiuri newspaper reported that the Japanese government is reviewing a plan to send the North Koreans to South Korea after consultations with the Seoul government, based on a Tokyo law on North Korean human rights.
Mainichi, another daily, reported that the Japanese government has confirmed the North Koreans as defectors after questioning them. An unnamed Japanese government official told Mainichi that Tokyo will make an appropriate decision by prioritizing "humanitarian concerns."
In a press conference on Tuesday, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said that Tokyo will handle the situation, based on "similar cases in the past."
In June 2007, Japan sent a family of four North Korean defectors to South Korea upon their request, two weeks after they arrived by boat in Aomori, a prefecture on the northern tip of Honshu.
TOKYO, Sept. 14 (Yonhap) -- Japanese authorities on Wednesday confirmed the nine North Koreans who were found adrift aboard a boat off Japan's west coast earlier this week as defectors and are considering transferring them to South Korea, local media reported.
The nine North Koreans, including three children, have been questioned by Japanese authorities and reportedly expressed their wish to defect to South Korea, in a rare defection from the North to Japan.
They were in good health after spending the night on a Japanese coast guard vessel at a port in Kanazawa of Ishikawa prefecture, Kyodo news agency reported, citing officials.
Japanese authorities are expected to issue a temporary landing permit for the North Korean defectors later on Wednesday, Kyodo said.
Early on Wednesday, the Yomiuri newspaper reported that the Japanese government is reviewing a plan to send the North Koreans to South Korea after consultations with the Seoul government, based on a Tokyo law on North Korean human rights.
Mainichi, another daily, reported that the Japanese government has confirmed the North Koreans as defectors after questioning them. An unnamed Japanese government official told Mainichi that Tokyo will make an appropriate decision by prioritizing "humanitarian concerns."
In a press conference on Tuesday, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said that Tokyo will handle the situation, based on "similar cases in the past."
In June 2007, Japan sent a family of four North Korean defectors to South Korea upon their request, two weeks after they arrived by boat in Aomori, a prefecture on the northern tip of Honshu.
