North Korean refugees

[bhchao]

What should China do regarding the flow of North Korean refugees across the Chinese-North Korean border?

As North Korea refuses to change itself, North Koreans are trying to escape the malignant conditions in the country by fleeing to prosperous South Korea via China. Passing through China and then "making a run for it" is their only way of getting to South Korea.

However, this has caused problems in northeast China. One is the surge in crime in the northeastern provinces of China facing Korea. There are millions of North Koreans residing illegally in northeastern China.

If North Korea does not reform itself for the better like China did, it will eventually collapse. Some argue that China can hasten the demise of the regime if it allows refugees to flow across, just like how the mass exodus of Germans from East Germany helped bring about the collapse of East Germany. Yet this will not be a pretty scenario for China.

[holyman]

well, then in no time n korea will bcome a ghost state, or it bcome a chinese province... the rogue state will be gone, then america might feel a little safer... chinese got a new place to visit for may 1st and oct 1st holidays... sounds good...

[yan]

What is the problem with allowing them access to the South Korean embassy? If China does not want illegal North Koreans within its borders, she could try to reach a "repatriation" agreement with the south.

She certainly does not have any duty to do the job of the North Korean border police.

Don't know if the South would want thousands of Northerners though. They seem somewhat less welcoming towards their compatriots than West Germany was, as evidenced by keeping some hundred North Koreans in a certain South East Asian countries until said country threatened to extradite them to the North.

[holyman]

bcos china and n korea are brudder brudder states. and too bad, like china, n korea has restrictions on immigration and travel. if china happily let the n korean refugees in, it'll be a slap on mr kim's face, and chinese govt probably wouldnt want that to happen. besides, i think china has a rule regarding political refugees, i think officially they dun accept it. anyway who knows those ppl are true refugees or not? imagine one of them is a terrorist and carry a bomb, china will be held responsible.

as for s korea, last time they like to accept n koreans, part of their political propaganda. but now it seems that its not that important anymore. anyway, most koreans i knew dun trust the n koreans and they expressed the feeling that s korea govt should never give these ppl full fledged citizenship.

[yan]

But, all China has to do is to allow people to access the south korean embassy. China does not have to accept them as refugees of any kind, nor refrain from extraditing them if it wants to. It could just choose to handle it as an inter-korean matter, and renounce responsibility for anything revolving around that matter, as long as it does not threaten public security. I doubt Kim would do much about it - what could he do? Close the border - anything else? After all, he doesn't have a Taiwanese embassy in Pyongyang, does he?

but now it seems that its not that important anymore. anyway, most koreans i knew dun trust the n koreans and they expressed the feeling that s korea govt should never give these ppl full fledged citizenship

Doesn't make them look good.

[confucius]

Now wait a minute; don't blame the rising crime in northeast China on refugees from across the Yalu River.

I'm sure the bastard who stole my camera in Shenyang at Zhang Xueliang's old house was not a North Korean.

[wushijiao]

I read that South Koreans treat unification as a sensitive issue. That is, they want it, but they don't really want it for some 50 years, because everyone knows it would be a mess.

NK has semi-reformed their economy, to a semi-market economy, they say. This has to mean increased influence for China, no?

If I were Hu Jintao (or Jiang?), I wouldn't officially allow 17 million economic refugees to flow into an area that is becoming a political powder keg.

yan's idea is pretty good.

[bhchao]

North Koreans often face prejudice in South Korea and have difficulty adjusting to life there, as indicated by this article. Since they were taught to worship kim jr and taught ideology lessons in North Korea, they have no skills and education needed to find a job in South Korea. So most of them take blue-collar jobs like construction, which no one wants.

http://www.straitstimes.com.sg/eyeoneastasia/story/0,4395,258414,00.html

China and South Korea don't want North Korea to collapse overnight because that will send a deluge of refugees across both their borders. North Koreans currently living in South Korea already have difficulties adjusting to life there, and imagine millions of refugees adjusting to life there when North Korea collapses overnight. That will destabilize the South.

The only solution is from within. China should send a clear message to North Korea: "Reform thyself or collapse altogether" The regime will then follow the capitalistic economic path of South Korea that led the South to prosperity in the first place. That will make integrating the two societies much easier, and lead to unification. But this will not happen as long as kim jr is in power. So this will be more than 70 years in the making.

Yan's idea sounds good. By allowing defectors to get to the South Korean embassy, China will allow a gradual stream of defectors to South Korea instead of the overnight refugee scenario. This will allow a gradual adjustment to life in South Korea, and sooner or later, there will be no more people left in North Korea.

The only problem I see with this is that it will encourage North Koreans to migrate to China by the thousands just so they can "make a run for it" to the South Korean embassy.

[holyman]

But, all China has to do is to allow people to access the south korean embassy. China does not have to accept them as refugees of any kind, nor refrain from extraditing them if it wants to. It could just choose to handle it as an inter-korean matter, and renounce responsibility for anything revolving around that matter, as long as it does not threaten public security.

u still didnt get what i mean. in n korea and china they need papers to travel around, and these papers are pretty hard to get, esp n korea. so if those ppl without papers from the n korean govt passed thru the chinese border, it means the chinese govt actually allowed illegal immigrants, this is unacceptable. the s korea embassy is in beijing, 12-18hrs from the n korean border, do u think chinese govt can allow illegal immigrants to travel across the country to the south korean embassy? moreover, since n korea is chinese ally, they wouldnt want to create a scene and make kim jr lose face. anyway if china is to help either side openly, it'll be interfering with domestic matters, which is one undesired issue chinese emphasis most.