China to deport arrested N.K. defectors today: lawmaker

SEOUL (Yonhap) - China is set to deport a group of alleged North Korean defectors back to their home country later in the day, a lawmaker said Thursday, adding urgency to Seoul's efforts to block the move.
Seoul has been pressuring Beijing to stop the repatriation of the 35 alleged defectors after they were apparently rounded up in China at the end of last month to be sent back home. The Commission to Help North Korean Refugees, a South Korean humanitarian group, claimed last week that the group faced deportation early this month.
"The defectors under arrest in China are expected to be sent back to North Korea at 3 p.m. today," Rep. Park Sun-young of the minor Liberty Forward Party said during a parliamentary audit.
South Korean officials believe two of the defectors may hold South Korean nationality after having defected to the South.
As North Korea's largest ally, China does not recognize North Korean defectors within its borders as refugees and regularly deports them back to North Korea, where they are said to face severe punishments ranging from torture to public execution.
More than 22,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War to flee poverty and political repression in their homeland. Many of them reach the South after crossing the border into China.
Human rights activists believe more than 100,000 North Koreans may still be in China in search of a safe route to South Korea.