North and South Koreans scuffle at UN meeting over defectors

[한겨레] Emotions running high as North Korean diplomat calls UN report "fabricated"

By Park Byung-soo, senior staff writer and Park Min-hee, Beijing correspondent

A scuffle broke out at a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session between individuals believed to be from the South Korean National Assembly delegation demanding a halt to defector repatriation, and UN security personnel and North Korean representatives attempting to stop them.

The Chinese delegation expressed dismay Monday with South Korea, the US, and the European Union's raising of the defector issue at the UNHRC meeting at the UN's European headquarters in Geneva, the Communist Party newspaper People's Daily reported Tuesday.

The Chinese representatives reaffirmed Beijing's position that the North Koreans are not refugees, but illegal immigrants who entered China for financial reasons. China asked the other nations to avoid "making North Korean defectors an international and political issue."

Speaking at the UNHRC meeting, UN special rapporteur on North Korean human rights Marzuki Darusman effectively demanded that China halt its forcible repatriation of North Korean defectors, insisting that the nations involved must abide by the rule opposing such repatriation.

China is a signatory to the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The convention states: "No contracting state shall expel or return a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social or political opinion."

So Se-pyong, North Korea's ambassador in Geneva, countered that the rapporteur's report "was nothing more than fabricated political machinations."

A scuffle ensued when a South Korean National Assembly delegation surrounded So as he was exiting the room following his remarks, Yonhap News reported. The members, who included New Frontier Party lawmakers Lee Eun-jae and Ahn Hyoung-hwan and Liberty Forward Party lawmaker Park Sun-young had attended the meeting as observers seeking to stop the repatriation of the defectors. They chanted, "No repatriations," among other things, as they surrounded So. Ahn and Lee, who are believed to have grabbed So's arm, were detained for about 30 minutes by UN security personnel due to their physical threat to the North Korean representative. Ahn suffered bruising to his left wrist when his arm was twisted by UN security workers. Lee suffered an injury to her right wrist in an encounter with an individual believed to be part of the North Korean delegation.

Regarding the UNHRC discussions, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman Cho Byung-je said Tuesday, "the international community shared its concerns about the defector issue and other aspects of the North Korean human rights situation."

When asked about the National Assembly delegation's altercation with the North Korean representatives the day before, Cho avoid giving a direct answer, saying, "I don't think it would be appropriate for me to answer that. We are currently in the process of figuring out exactly what happened."

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North and South Koreans scuffle at UN meeting over defectors