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Eight North Korean Defectors Force Their Way Into Japanese School in Beijing

Eight North Korean Defectors Force Their Way Into Japanese School in Beijing

Posted March. 09, 2005 22:40,   

한국어

Eight defectors from North Korea forced their way into a Japanese School in Jianguo, Beijing at around 4:30 a.m. on March 9 in a bid to seek asylum in South Korea.

The latest attempt by North Korean defectors barging into foreign missions or international schools in China was six weeks ago, when eight North Koreans broke into a Japanese school on January 24.

“As Chinese police have taken strong action against groups supporting asylum seekers from North Korea since last October, and the South Korean government has reduced settlement allowances for North Korean defectors, the number of attempts of “planned defection” from North Korea, that had been frequent last fall, now seems to be falling,” a source in Beijing said.

One man and six women, one with a two-year old infant, used a steel ladder to first climb over a 13-foot-high wired fence surrounding the school, and then crossed the school playground. Then they climbed another 17-foot-high school building wall to get into the night duty room, and asked for help there.



Yoo-Seong Hwang yshwang@donga.com