Nine North Koreans Expelled From South Korean School in Tianjin

September 28, 2005

The principal at the South Korean International School in Tianjin turned away nine North Koreans seeking safe passage to South Korea on September 12 after they forced their way into the school, according to a South Korean civic group supporting North Korean refugees in China and reported by Yonhap News.

The principal at the South Korean International School in Tianjin turned away nine North Koreans seeking safe passage to South Korea on September 12 after they forced their way into the school, according to a South Korean civic group supporting North Korean refugees in China and reported by Yonhap News. The expulsion is unusual as those North Korean asylum seekers who have managed to enter international schools or foreign embassies in the past have generally been allowed safe passage to South Korea after protracted negotiations with Chinese officials (see here and here). The school principal contends that the group, which included a seven-year-old and a one-year-old child, did not identify themselves as North Koreans or request passage to South Korea.

The Chinese government considers all North Koreans in China "illegal economic migrants" and forcibly returns them to North Korea, where they face imprisonment for defecting. The U.S. State Department estimates that there are 30,000 North Koreans refugees in China.