US to Consider Enactment of a Special Law to Accept North Korean Refugees, Collin Powell Also Considers the Status of Refugees"

International societies including the US should take protective measures for those North Korean sufferers in China, such as accepting them as refugees, not to be forcedly sent back to North Korea, Senator Sam Brownbeck urged yesterday.

At a press interview held for Korean reporters yesterday, he added that a plan was being formulated to bring them into the US by enacting a special law. He answered the questions as follows:

-What has been recently going on to help the North Korean refugees?

“We have been urging the State Department to take administrative actions to include them in the P-2 category (special concern group) that is applicable to international refugees the US accepts every year. For this purpose, I met Senator Edward Kennedy and State Secretary Collin Powel last Tuesday and discussed how they could be given the status of refugees. The Secretary of State gave an affirmative answer by saying, “I will have the matter reviewed and considered.” At the same time, we are considering a plan to bring them into the US by enacting a special law like Rottenberg Amendment that was enacted in order to bring into the US the Jewish people scattered throughout the Union with the collapse of the Soviet Union. I think that the American people will support this idea once they have further information on the issue of North Korean refugees.”

-The two Houses recently adopted a resolution demanding China not to send the refugees back to North Korea, but China has a disregard for that…

“In addition to the resolution, we summoned the Chinese ambassador to Washington D.C. and delivered our concern about the matter, but China does not acknowledge that they are refugees. China should not forcedly return them where oppression and hunger are waiting for them. The problem is that we do not have an appropriate means to put pressure on China to comply with the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. But we do not agree with some NGOs that insist on forming an alliance to boycott Chinese products. I believe that we should take diplomatic steps to persuade China.”

-NGOs are considering to establish a refugee camp for the North Korean refugees in Mongolia.

“It is a good idea. If a refugee camp is established in Mongolia, the North Korean refugees will not have run away any longer to avoid a crackdown. I think that the US needs to give a financial aid to the establishment of a refugee camp.”

-Do you have any personal motive that made you interested in the issue of the North Korean refugees?

“I thought I needed to help them when I heard supposedly 150,000 to 300,000 North Korean refugees were in miserable circumstances living in China. I don’t have any special motive. I am just looking for something to do for them from a humanitarian viewpoint.”

Ki-Heung Han eligius@donga.com