North Korea: children suffer, adults make politics

Seven people believed to be North Koreans have entered a Japanese school in Beijing seeking refuge. The incident comes as Japanese relations with both North Korea and China are worsening. Japanese Embassy spokesman Keiji Ide says security cameras at the school alerted embassy personnel to the break-in just before 4:00 a.m. Friday local time. "It seems to us they are from North Korea," he stated. "We decided to bring them to the embassy building. Six of them are adults and one is a small child, two men and four women." Mr. Ide says there are now 16 North Koreans taking refuge in the Japanese compound. In the past two years, scores of North Koreans have rushed diplomatic compounds in Beijing and other Chinese cities, hoping for asylum and transit to another country - usually South Korea. There are reportedly tens of thousands more North Koreans hiding throughout China, fleeing hunger and political repression in their communist homeland. Beijing, North Korea's closest ally, refuses to grant the &to= english.pravda.ru/world/2001/06/28/8883.html ' target=_blank>Koreans refugee status, and has objected to international support for those within its borders, informs VOA News. Japan decided Friday to delay imposing economic sanctions on North Korea, a move the isolated communist nation had said it would consider a declaration of war. Prime Minister &to= english.pravda.ru/politics/2003/01/09/41786.html ' target=_blank>Junichiro Koizumi said Japan wants to give the communist state more time to explain the fate of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang decades ago. ``We will have to see how North Korea responds to demands for the truth. Once we have that, we would then consider what sort of sanctions to impose,'' Koizumi said at a news conference after talks with South Korean President &to= english.pravda.ru/politics/2002/12/21/41149.html ' target=_blank>Roh Moo-hyun . South Korea is opposed to the sanctions, fearing they could set back multinational talks aimed at persuading the North to scrap its nuclear weapons programs. Tokyo and Seoul have pursued independent contacts with the North, in addition to participating in three rounds of six-nation talks also involving the United States, China and Russia. The talks have produced no breakthrough, reports the Guardian Unlimited.

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