Korea “shocked” by Chinese Actions

Why are Koreans so “shocked” by the allegations that China has been aiding North Korean kidnapping teams in China? Why should China care about the refugees when the South Korean government doesn’t?

There was shock in South Korea Wednesday at the revelation that the North runs a kidnapping squad that freely crosses the Sino-Korean border and raids safe houses on Chinese territory, often in the guise of Chinese security forces, and apparently with the tacit consent of China.
By contrast, Chinese authorities habitually imprison South Korean activists who operate in China’s border areas trying to help North Korean defectors.

National Intelligence Service (NIS) records from the interrogation of 36-year-old Ryu Young-hwa, a North Korean operative involved in the kidnapping of South Korean pastor Kim Dong-shik, reveal that North Korean agents dress up as Chinese police to raid defector hideouts and kidnap their occupants. Even if the kidnappers smashed windows to break into houses and caused commotions as they dragged away handcuffed victims, the Chinese authorities did not lift a finger to stop them.

Prosecutors confirmed that Ryu’s squad kidnapped and returned to North Korea 16 people including the Rev. Kim in nine operations between 1999 and 2000, mostly from Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces. Chinese authorities either made no attempt to stop the abductions or were unaware of them.

Meanwhile, the Japanese media is focusing on a Japanese woman who was among a total of some 40 defectors abducted by the squad. Both the Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun quoted a Chosun Ilbo report that the woman, who had moved to North Korea in the 1960s after marrying a North Korean, had been taken back to the North in handcuffs after escaping to China.

China has just as much reason to want to get rid of the defectors as North Korea does. China does not want a refugee crisis to flood its borders so they are going to do everything possible covertly to prevent mass defections such as allowing Nork kidnapping teams free access in the country. China cannot take action themselves because they do not want human rights allegations involving the refugees to tarnish the upcoming Olympic Games. The Nork kidnapping teams make a good proxy force to take care of the refugee problem and leaves the Chinese with plausible deniability. It’s a great arrangement that works for everyone involved, unless you are one of those refugees, but who cares about them anyway.