Twenty-nine North Korean Defectors Flee to Korea International School in Beijing

Twenty-nine North Korean Defectors penetrated the Korea International School in Beijing in Changping County of Beijing, China around 9:00 a.m. on October 22 and demanded entry into Korea. It is the first time that defectors from North Korea went into a Korean educational institution instead of a diplomatic facility.

China is asking the Korean authorities to hand them over, citing that they entered a facility without diplomatic immunity, but the Korean Embassy in China is in negotiations with Chinese diplomatic authority to have them moved to a shelter for refugees under the consulate.

It is said that the Chinese government seems to be taking a harder stance in dealing with North Korean defectors as more of them are entering diplomatic legations and international schools with a higher frequency recently after the passage of the North Korea Human Rights Act in the United States.

The Chinese authority placed dozens of police officers around the school after the penetration, but it is reported that the defectors are unlikely to be taken into custody as most of the police force was withdrawn at around 3:00 p.m.

There are 23 females and six males among the defectors, including two children aged seven and eight. It is reported that among them are a family who fled from North Korea a month ago, a mother and son couple who came to China seven years ago, and former residents of Yanggang Province, which was rumored to have suffered a bomb explosion.

The defectors entered the school grounds, located in Qianmen village of Changping County in the suburb of Beijing, through the back gate. Then, they crossed a vacant lot to enter the principal’s office on the first floor of a five-story building 300 meters away from the gate, asking for assistance to enter Korea. They met no resistance upon their entrance to the school since the gate was unlocked and no security officer was present.

The school plans to have them stay in the conference room in the meantime and prepare for their lodging in case negotiations between the Korean and Chinese authorities are prolonged.

Yoo-Seong Hwang yshwang@donga.com