death penalty news December 20, 2004
NORTH KOREA: Korean refugees 'face execution' Two North Koreans were forcibly repatriated by China to face execution at home, an activist group said Monday, demanding Beijing stop sending back people fleeing the reclusive Stalinist state. Choi Yong, 55, a North Korean born in Japan, had been in prison with a fellow refugee since being repatriated from Beijing earlier this year, said Hiroshi Kato, secretary-general of Tokyo-based Life Funds for North Korean Refugees. But when the group contacted the companion a few months ago, "he said Choi Yong has been missing and was most probably executed because this was his third arrest for attempted escape, which warrants the death penalty," Kato said. The companion, Park Yong-chol, was repatriated in late October and also faces execution for violating strict laws against emigration, Kato said. "It would be no wonder if he is executed sometime in the future," Kato said. His group and other non-government organisations plan to stage rallies on Wednesday in Japan and the United States to demand China drop its policy of sending back North Korean refugees. "We also hope that through the protest, North Korean government would listen to our voice and not execute Park Yong-chol," Kato said. Human rights groups say up to 300,000 North Koreans have fled to China and many are seeking asylum to South Korea and other countries. About 44 North Koreans are believed to be still holed up the Canadian embassy in Beijing while the South Korean consulate protects as many as 130. Seven others rushed into a Japanese school in Beijing on Friday and remain in the custody of Japanese diplomats, an official in Tokyo said. The flight of North Koreans is a major diplomatic embarrassment for both Beijing and Pyongyang, close allies for more than half a century. (source: Agence France-Presse / news.com.au)
