N.Korea has executed 70 returned refugees - group
11 Feb 2005
Reuters

Excerpt:
SEOUL, Feb 11 (Reuters) - North Korea has executed about 70 refugees who were captured in China and sent home, a South Korean group that helps North Korean refugees said on Friday, citing informants in China.

The Commission to Help North Korean Refugees, a private, Seoul-based conservative group, said about eight or nine of the 70 executed last month were put to death in public to discourage others from trying to slip across the border into China.

No independent confirmation of the report was available but the group has been regarded as a reliable source of information on reclusive North Korea.

"What the North is aiming to do is to completely shut off the escape route and particularly refugees who try to flee for the second and third time," said a representative of the group, Kim Bum-soo.

China is North Korea's sole remaining important friend and often sends back North Koreans, who China regards as illegal immigrants and not as refugees.

As many as 300,000 North Korean refugees are believed to be hiding in China. South Korea has worked behind the scenes to press China to allow them Koreans to travel to the South.

Kim said the number of North Koreans crossing into China had fallen dramatically as a result of the executions.
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