25 N. Korean Defectors Will Arrive in Seoul, Today

The 25 North Korean defectors will arrive in Seoul at 5:20 p.m., on 18th (Korean time) by Korean Air flight KE622. They were expelled from China to Philippine after they had barged into the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, China.

A government official said yesterday, “The 25 North Korean defectors will leave the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 1:40 p.m., on 18th, and will arrive at Incheon International Airport. After finishing a brief entry inspection, they will be subject to about a week of joint investigations by the related authorities.”

After the investigation, the defectors will receive education, including vocational education, to adjust themselves into the South Korean society by staying at `Hanawon,` a facility of the Ministry of Unification that helps the defectors` settlement in South Korea, for two months.

In advance, after their arriving in Philippine on 15th, the 25 defectors were staying at a safe-house in Aguinaldo Camp, which was provided by the Philippines military intelligence service. They have drawn up their entry documents to Korea.

A government official said, “A dispatched medical team already checked the defectors` health conditions. They are recovering from the mental suffering that they have experienced in the process of their barging into the Spanish Embassy.”

About the delay of the defectors` departure from 16th to 18th, Lee Tae-Sik, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, said, “Accepting the Korean government`s request to check the defectors` health conditions before their departure to Korea at late night on 15th, Philippines President Gloria Arroyo ordered related authorities to respect the Korean government`s position. Then, the schedule was changed.”

Young-Sik Kim spear@donga.com