For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 30, 2006

Statement on China's treatment of Kim Chun-Hee

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

The United States is gravely concerned about China's treatment of Kim Chun-Hee. Despite U.S., South Korean, and UNHCR attempts to raise this case with the Chinese, Ms. Kim, an asylum seeker in her thirties, was deported to North Korea after being arrested in December for seeking refuge at two Korean schools in China. We are deeply concerned about Ms. Kim's well-being. The United States notes China's obligations as a party to the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and believes that China must take those obligations seriously. We also call upon the Government of China not to return North Korean asylum seekers without allowing UNHCR access to these vulnerable individuals.

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Source: White House website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060330-3.html

Other Websites:

U.S. State Department, “U.S. Very Concerned by China's Return of North Korean Refugee”, March 30, 2006

Yonhap News, “White House reacts strongly to N.K. refugee repatriation”, March 31, 2006

Yonhap News, “U.S. senator denounces China for deporting N. Korean defectors”, April 7, 2006

Washington Post, “Washington Puts Face on North Korean Human Rights”, April 19, 2006

Opinion Journal, Wall Street Journal, “Where is Kim Chun-Hee?”, April 19, 2006