tagged w/ North Korean refugees
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"Reporting from Beijing —
China formally protested on Tuesday that three of its citizens were killed and a fourth wounded by North Korean border guards who opened fire last week in an apparent attempt to crack down on smuggling.
The Chinese were from the border city of Dandong, site of the Friendship Bridge, across the Yalu River, commemorating China's support for the North during the Korean War. According to reports in the South Korean media, the Chinese were suspected of smuggling copper wire out of the North Korean city of Sinuiju, which is on the other side of the bridge. The reports said they were on a boat on the river when they were shot Friday.
"In the aftermath of the incident, China has paid a lot of attention to this issue and has made a formal diplomatic protest to North Korea," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said, reading an official statement at a regular news briefing in Beijing.
The incident comes in the midst of a furor over the March 26 sinking of a South Korean naval ship that killed 46 sailors. At least publicly, China has refused to take sides, angering South Korean and U.S. officials who say there is overwhelming evidence that an unprovoked North Korean torpedo attack caused the ship to go down.
The irony of China's protest over last week's shooting was not lost on South Korea.
"This time it is their citizens who are killed, and they show they are not so naive after all about North Korea," said Kim Tae Jin, a North Korean defector and human rights activist in Seoul. However, he applauded China's protest of the shooting. China needs to show North Korean leader Kim Jong Il "that he can't get away with whatever he wants," Kim said.
China's public protest is unusual in that relations between China and North Korea are normally shrouded in secrecy, to be discussed only in the politburos of the longtime communist allies.
"It is rare for China to publicly complain. Usually there is a private apology or money paid," said Kim Heung Gwang, a former North Korean college professor and head of Seoul-based North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity.
The stretch of the Yalu just south of Dandong is frequently trafficked by smugglers, some of them bringing North Korean-made drugs into China or banned Chinese products, such as DVDs or cellphones, into North Korea.
The North Korean government is especially strict about the export of copper, which has been looted from factories, electrical and telecommunications facilities by Northerners desperate for money. But the North's border guards do not normally shoot to kill — at least not when the smugglers are Chinese."
Read the full article in the link below:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-north-korea-shoot-20100609,0,3547123.story"Reporting from Beijing —
China formally protested on Tuesday that three... more
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Journalist Laura Ling provides harrowing details of how she and producer Euna Lee were apprehended and held in North Korea while on assignment covering human trafficking in Asia. Personal accounts, letters and never-before-seen footage from Ling, Lee and producer Mitch Koss reveal the team's experiences at the center of a widely publicized international standoff.
"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.
For more Vanguard, visit http://current.com/vanguard.Journalist Laura Ling provides harrowing details of how she and producer Euna Lee were... more
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I find the Chinese policewoman's claim that refugees are no longer shot when they're repatriated the first time hard to believe. Even if that's true, it doesn't matter when they face certain death just from being sentenced to a labor camp.I find the Chinese policewoman's claim that refugees are no longer shot when... more
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"Seoul plans to spend 9.3 billion won ($7.9 million) next year on building new readjustment and education facilities for defectors from North Korea, according to a government report yesterday.""Seoul plans to spend 9.3 billion won ($7.9 million) next year on building new... more
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A group of North Korean refugees who have been holed up in the Danish embassy in Hanoi for several weeks are now on their way to South Korea.A group of North Korean refugees who have been holed up in the Danish embassy in Hanoi... more
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In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Lisa Ling's husband Paul Song announces that the editorial we have been waiting 2 weeks for will be published very soon! Laura Ling and Euna Lee "will detail the circumstances surrounding their arrest and detention"
The Current TV crew consisting of Laura, Euna, and Mitch Koss travelled to Yanji (China) in March to conduct interviews with North Korean refugees. They were assisted by Durihana Mission Pastor Chun Ki-won in Seoul, who arranged their China itinerary and referred them to an ethnic Korean local guide that led them to the border. They also had cooperation from Durihana's Pastor Lee Chan-woo in Yanji, who facilitated reports at an orphanage and interviews with female North Korean refugees.
What happened next has been the subject of speculation but here are the facts we have so far:
1. Laura and Euna were arrested after crossing the China border at Yueqing onto North Korean territory along the Tumen River. Yueqing is located south of the town of Tumen, about an hour away from Current TV's assignment in the city of Yanji.
2. A camera and video were confiscated by Chinese police from Mitch Koss, who escaped capture by North Koreans at the border area in Yueqing.
3. A camera and videos were also confiscated by North Korean border sentries and used as evidence in Laura and Euna's trial in Pyongyang.
4. The ethnic Korean local guide, a citizen of China, was sentenced to six months in jail.
5. Lee Chan-woo's house was raided on March 19 by Chinese police who confiscated his computer, camera and various documents containing the personal information of 25 North Korean orphans staying at Yanji orphanages, as well as the phone numbers and addresses of human rights activists.In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Lisa Ling's husband Paul Song... more
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