07/08/2002

China has tightened control along the border with North Korea, particularly since March of this year, when several North Korean asylum-seekers rushed consulates in Beijing. The Chinese government has refused to allow UNHCR access to asylum-seekers, classifying them as trespassers or illegal migrants. China should change these policies and do more to help North Korean refugees, a South Korean professor said.

Lee Won-Woong of Kwandong University outlined two important approaches to the North Korean refugee crisis in recent remarks at the Hudson Institute. The first approach dealt with Chinese policy and the importance of pressuring China not to forcibly repatriate North Korean asylum-seekers. Within this approach, Lee also called on the international community to insist that China redefine the issue as an international humanitarian crisis rather than a bilateral issue of sovereignty. The second approach, which Professor Lee called the “strategic approach,” focused on the situation’s potential long-run effects on North Korea.

Despite China’s current stance toward the situation, humanitarian and human rights issues abound. One of the most appalling problems in the region is the widespread trafficking of refugees, particularly women. Other problems included the increasing number of children crossing the border and the lack of education being provided to them. Professor Lee cited this as a major reason that many children have turned to criminal activity; he called on the international community to supply books and educational materials. He stressed that educating the refugee population can also have a broad impact on raising awareness inside North Korea about the reality of their situation compared with the rest of the world.

To convince China to shift their approach, Professor Lee made several recommendations. First, he encouraged the South Korean government to develop a more proactive policy toward this issue. Currently, he said, South Korea practices only “silent diplomacy,” accepting North Korean refugees but shying away from any attempts to convince China to adopt a similar policy. Encouragingly, he observed that the South Korean press and public have been dissatisfied with this approach, and there is some hope that the upcoming elections will bring in new leaders who will change South Korea’s stance. Secondly, the professor urged the U.S. and Japan to use the South Koreans’ dissatisfaction as a leverage point. By engaging the South Korean government on this issue often, it will continue to appear in the South Korean news and will remain in the minds of the public. In addition, he appealed to these governments and the entire international community to engage China directly.

By creating political instability, he said, the exodus may have a positive impact on bringing change to the North Korean regime. Interestingly, Professor Lee observed that North Koreans who cross the border can frequently play a key role in spreading information within North Korea. In general, North Koreans have no access to radios or other forms of communication other than government propaganda. As such, they are often vastly unaware of the reality of the world outside of North Korea. One of the few effective ways of getting this information into North Korea, therefore, is by providing books, newspapers, and other materials to North Korean refugees, many of whom cross back into North Korea by choice or by force.