Consular Office of Korean Embassy in Beijing Considers Suspending Operations

The Consular Office of the South Korean Embassy in Beijing decided on October 25 to consider halting general consular services, owing to a recent flow of North Korean defectors crossing into China and overpopulating the consulate’s temporary housing facilities.

A consulate official said, “The number of North Korean refugees we are currently accommodating is over twice our normal capacity, and we have no choice but to think about suspending regular consular activities, including the issuing of passports and visas, for the time being.”

The Consular Office suspended operations on two previous occasions in October of last year, when the number of North Korean refugees living inside the consulate walls exceeded 110 following a spike in the flow of defectors.

A total of 112 North Koreans have come to the South Korean Embassy’s consular division to seek asylum in Seoul since September 28, when the U.S. Senate passed the North Korean Human Rights Act.

Prior to that date, on September 25 at 6:00 am, 18 North Korean defectors tried to enter the grounds of the South Korean consulate in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, but only three succeeded. Of the remaining 15, several fled while others were seized by Chinese building security officers.

Four of these 15 North Koreans were captured by the security officers in the process of scaling the outer wall of the diplomatic compound, but 11 of them fought off the officers and made it over the consulate walls, unfurling a South Korean flag and demanding to be taken to Korea. Eventually, they either fled from the building or were picked up by the security officers.

The reason why the majority of the 18 North Korean defectors were taken into Chinese custody despite having made it into the front courtyard of the Consular Office is because the grounds outside the consulate building are not under the consulate’s jurisdiction but part of the diplomatic compound’s joint administrative area controlled by China.

Only two women and one young boy succeeded in entering the consulate building, ushered in by a consulate official who, upon hearing the news about the defectors, rushed to the scene and arrived some 30 minutes after the incident began.

The government plans to bring the three refugees who successfully made it into the Consular Office back to South Korea, as well as to pursue diplomatic measures to prevent the captured North Koreans from being deported to their home country.

An official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade stated, “The frequent, large-scale attempts by North Korean asylum-seekers to enter South Korea’s consulate offices in China during the past few months have made the Chinese government increasingly sensitive,” and added, “It’s very likely that the Chinese will decide to keep the captured North Koreans in their custody for a prolonged period.”

Yoo-Seong Hwang yshwang@donga.com taewon_ha@donga.com