By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
SEOUL, Republic of Korea — North Korean border guards shot five refugees to death and wounded two others after chasing them across the frontier into China last month, according to a South Korean newspaper.
The incident took place near Hyesan, the North’s northeastern city, on December when the refugees crossed the frozen Yalu river which separates the border with China, Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, quoting a source in China.
It said North Korean border guards followed the refugees and opened fire on the Chinese side. After the shooting, the guards dragged the bodies and the wounded back across the border with the acquiescence of Chinese authorities.
According to Chosun Ilbo, such shooting by the North Korean guards after the refugees had already crossed the river has never occurred before.
It is alleged that Kim Jong-Un, son and heir apparent to leader Kim Jong-Il, has given orders to soldiers to shoot anyone who tries to cross the border without permission.
The South’s National Intelligence Service declined to comment on the report.
Open Radio for North Korea, a South Korea based radio station which broadcasts into the North, said Kim Jong-Un on January 3 called for a major crackdown on North Korean escapees currently dwelling in China.
The directive was in response to an official complaint from Chinese security authorities that the refugees are a burden on security, the radio quoted an informed source as saying.
Kim Jong-Un, the new leader of North who is believed to have also ordered an attack on Yeonpyeong Island of South On November 23, 2010, which killed two South Korean soldiers and two civilians, has denounced the refugees for undermining the communist state’s ideological foundations, it added.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans who fled hunger and poverty under the dictatorship are believed to be struggling and suffering in China as illegal immigrants, as a large number of women are sexually trafficked. If these refugees are found in China, they are repatriated to North Korea for probable harsh punishment, many of them forced into concentration camps where they could even face execution.
China, violating the UN treaty, treats North Korean refugees as economic migrants rather than refugees, a policy criticised by rights groups.
For more information, please see:
AFP – Report: N. Korea kills five refugees inside China – 11 January 2011
The Straits Times – N. Korea Kills Five Refugees Inside China – 11 January 2011
International Herald Tribune – Low Profile of an Heir Reinforces a Mystery – 7 January 2011
