remember the planeload of nk refugees that made it to seoul from a “3rd country” from “you know where”. well china didn’t fuss about it, coz officially it “didn’t” know what was happening. this can be done repeatedly minus the publicity. the chinese don’t really care they have enough problems of their own.

beijing is planning a big party for the olympics but nationalistic pride matters more to them. if nobody turns up so be it, maybe they will have a bigger fireworks show over taipei. remember tibet? the point is that, understanding has been reached between the governments (us, china, sk, …). the deals have been done. so no help from any government will be forthcoming.

it is up to private organisations and individuals to plan and implement efficient and effective ways to help these refugees. unfortnately the current lot of organizers just risk lives unnecessarily.

I would hardly call No Moo Hyun regime’s stance on Koguryo, Dokdo, SOFA, or East Sea to be a stupid emotion driven policies. They are in fact, very well calculated move to use fascism to cover-up for their disastrous policies in other areas. In fact, I think they are being very intelligent in a very Kim-Jong-Il-like way.

MW,

I can’t buy this quiet diplomacy anymore. Each year South Korea accepts maybe about 1000 NK refugees each year. Each time even 1 makes it to SK, NK gets very angry and makes it a big issue. China gets very sensitive about this issue, and if anything, NOW is the time to make a statement by linking this issue DIRECTLY with Beijing olympics. I mean, how are we to make this a “quiet” issue? You know those Chinese immigrants who sneak into United States by hiding in boats? Do you know how much money they spend to get here? A South American may spend as much as $4000 or more to sneak into United States, Chinese illegal immigrants must spend far more than that—money NK refugees or NGOs do not have.

AND, we have to remember that our typical NK refugee do not speak Chinese or any other language besides Korean, and that furthermore, the only orgainzation that seem to give financial support to NK refugees appear to be, more-or-less Christian evangelicals with conservative agenda.

I’m not advocating that we should support these groups that encourage NK to make a life-or-death gamble climbing over walls. But the truth of the matter is, is that no matter what they decide to do, it IS a life-or-death gamble for them. It was a life-or-death issue when they decided to cross the Duman river.

Christian evangelical groups HAVE been trying to construct underground railroads and what we have now is the result of their activities. You also, can’t forget that when these groups become successful, the Chinese security forces barges into their safehouses and sends back all NK refugees into NK to be summarily executed. The South Korean christian leaders, also gets a hefty sentence in Chinese prisons. Quite railroading? It has already failed very much like the Sunshine policy has failed.

Again, we need to link the issue of NK refugees directly with the Olympics issue, as this is the ONLY method that may bring change to China’s current policy. In the meanwhile, we in the United States should be more vocal and writing letters to our Senators, that we DEMAND to see more NK refugees make it here for asylum. We should be seeking similiar support from the Japanese and the EU to accept these refugees, and hopefully if enough NK refugees gets to these places, SK will be shamed into taking a more ethical stance on this issue.

nk refugees are taken advantage of by the chinese, by the ethnic koreans, by south koreans and by other refugees.

low key approach of 500 is x times more than what is happening now. that number can be improved on easily by the right contacts and methods. heck, thousands of chinese are smuggled easily to europe yearly, i don’t see why koreans can handle it better! and we are not even talking about all the way to europe but to russia or cambodia or thailand then to sk. all it takes is money, it is just that simple.

the activists are trying to create a groundswell to force the chinese, us and sk governments to do something about the situation. coz, the truth is that these governments are NOT interested.

so if you and your kind can get off your butts, raise the funds and arrange for “snakeheads” you will really help these refugees.

no, am not chinese nor korean but travel regularly to both countries for business, by the way you think, i know you are korean.

Very good logic there, mw.

Let me guess, you must be Chinese.

the chinese are ok with the above as can be seen in the past.

unfortunately the organizers of these rushes at embassies are not interested in the well being of individual refugees. they are trying to make a statement and trying to bring about a fall of nk through this. part reason is that low profile methods will be so successful that the number of refugees flooding in sk will be unacceptable by sk themselves.

if you play hardball with the chinese, then the existing community of nk refugees living in china quietly and assimalated amongst their chinese korean brethen will be at risk. the border between china and nk will be even further tightened preventing refugees from coming over.

Because China has an interest in keeping North Korea around and not having a reunified, democratic Republic of Korea at its borders regardless of whether there’s a China/NK treaty or not.

The fact recent discourse in the West has talked about defections as a means of encouraging the North’s collapse can only reinforce China’s determination to crack down.

The main reason the world has not put that much pressure on China so far is because of South Korea’s passive attitude to the whole mess. No matter what South Korea may say in public, she does not really want North Korea’s defectors, either. South Korea’s attitude causes the rest of the world to look at the problem and say, “If their own brethren in the South to not care about them, why should we?”

The world needs to start playing hardball with China, in regard to both North Korea’s nukes and refugees. China has had a taste of capitalism and likes it. Threats of trade sanctions might work on her now. I also think that more serious threats of Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea going nuclear would push China to finally deal with North Korea’s nukes.

Finally, as a last resort, I say subtly suggest that the US would not object too loudly if China takes over the governance of North Korea. If politicians in the US started suggesting that it would be better for North Koreans to learn to speak Chinese than to continue to suffer under Kim Jong-il’s evil regime, both South and North Korea might be prodded into solving the problems.

The fact is, Seoul’s amateurish diplomacy, emotion-driven policies, and skewed priorities left Seoul diplomatically isolated and without any options other than the fig leaf of “quiet diplomacy.” Had Seoul worked with the United States and Japan, all three countries could have exerted far more pressure on China to treat these refugees humanely and on the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to do its job. Instead, the United States Congress and the U.K. Foreign Ministry stand virtually alone in showing any real concern about these people.

I have an idea!! Let’s blame the SK government!! It could so easily get the PRC to cooperate fully if it cut with the quiet diplomacy and asked out loud!!