§ Mr. LaxtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Chinese Government concerning the arrest of the North Korean refugee Kang Byong-sop. [171525]
§ Mr. RammellThe EU carried out a demarche on North Korean border crossers in February 2004 specifically to request safe passage to a third country for the Kang family. The case was also raised at the EU/China Human Rights Dialogue in February. However, the Kang family was repatriated to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in March.
I raised the issue of China's treatment of DPRK border crossers with Zhang Zhijun, Deputy Director of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, when we met in March. I also expressed concern about the treatment of the Kang family to Choe Tae Bok, a senior DPRK official, when he visited London during that month. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have made official representations to the Chinese and DPRK Ambassadors in London and also the Chinese authorities in Beijing about the repatriation. We expect the EU to take follow-up action shortly.