ROK and Inter-Korean relations
January 2005
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Peril of North Korean Defectors
I am a U.S. citizen who is married to a North Korean Defector. Perhaps the only one. I met my wife in China and assisted her in getting to a third country to surrender at a South Korean Embassy. This was not easy and was very costly. When we finally got to the third country safely and went to the South Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in order for her to surrender, she was rejected. The consul there told us to go to the U.S. Embassy. Only after repeated threats by myself and friends, who were newspaper reporters, was she given a Korean visa in order for her to go to Korea and surrender.
In talking to other defectors, they also give similar stories of getting into South Korean missions in China only to be tossed out and told to go to another country.
Also, the welcome here was not warm. When we arrived in Seoul, both my wife and I were both physically and verbal abused by personnel of the NIS. There were no welcoming flowers or press, only harsh questions and abusive language. The harassment still continues with threatening phone calls from police and the NIS.
Please don't be fooled by the propaganda of this administration.
Marc Simkins Seoul, Korea
01-07-2005 19:00
[Refugee reception]
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Former president praises Roh's North Korea
policies
December 31, 2004 ? Former President Kim Dae-
jung yesterday expressed strong support for his
successor's policies towards North Korea.
In a meeting with Kim Keun-tae, health and
welfare minister, the Nobel Prize winner said
"President Roh Moo-hyun has been making the
right choices in inter-Korean relations."
"Since he is doing well, the people should
support the president," Mr. Kim said.
The Roh administration has continued the Kim
administration's engagement policies toward
North Korea.
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62% Against Assisted Defection of N. Koreans
By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter
A survey released by the government on Thursday
showed 62 percent of South Koreans disapproved
of efforts by civic groups to arrange North
Koreans' defection to the South.
Only 32 percent of the 1,500 respondents over 20 years of age agreed with the
non-governmental groups' attempts to help the refugees seeking asylum in South
Korea, the Unification Ministry said
[Refugee encouragement][SK Attitude NK]
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Patrol Boats Trade Warnings in West Sea
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
Patrol boats of South and North Korea have
exchanged warnings near the Northern Limit Line
(NLL) in the West Sea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff
(JCS) said Friday.
``A North Korean patrol vessel warned five times
that it will put up warning shots against a
South Korean patrol boat, unless the South
Korean boat backs off toward the South around 7
a.m.,'' said Won Tae-jae, spokesman of the JCS.
At that time, the South Korean patrol boat was
located 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of the
NLL, Won added.
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