III
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 213
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JUNE 12, 2002
Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding North Korean
refugees who are detained in China and returned to
North Korea where they face torture, imprisonment, and
execution.
Whereas the Government of North Korea is controlled by the
Korean Workers Party, which does not recognize the
right of North Koreans to exercise the freedoms of
speech, religion, press, assembly, or association;
Whereas the Government of North Korea imposes punish-
ments, including execution, for crimes such as attempted
defection, slander of the Korean Workers Party, listening
HCON 213 RFS
to foreign broadcasts, possessing printed matter that is
considered reactionary by the Korean Workers Party, and
holding prohibited religious beliefs;
Whereas genuine religious freedom does not exist in North
Korea and reports of executions, torture, and imprison-
ment of religious persons in the country continue to
emerge;
Whereas the Government of North Korea holds an estimated
200,000 political prisoners in camps that its State Secu-
rity Agency manages through the use of forced labor,
beatings, torture, and executions, in which many pris-
oners also die from disease, starvation, and exposure;
Whereas at least 1,000,000 North Koreans are estimated to
have died of starvation since 1995 because of the failure
of the centralized agricultural system operated by the
Government of North Korea;
Whereas the combination of political, social, and religious
persecution and the risk of starvation in North Korea is
causing many North Koreans to flee to China;
Whereas between 100,000 and 300,000 North Koreans are
estimated to be residing in China without the permission
of the Government of China;
Whereas in past years some Chinese authorities appear to
have tolerated quiet efforts by nongovernmental organiza-
tions to assist North Korean refugees in China, and have
allowed the departure of limited numbers of North Ko-
rean refugees after the advocacy of third countries, whose
diplomatic facilities granted these refugees sanctuary;
Whereas the Governments of China and North Korea have
begun aggressive campaigns to locate North Koreans who
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are in China without permission and to forcibly return
them to North Korea;
Whereas North Koreans who seek asylum while in China are
routinely imprisoned and tortured, and in some cases
killed, after they are returned to North Korea;
Whereas the United Nations Convention relating to the Sta-
tus of Refugees of 1951, as modified by the Protocol re-
lating to the Status of Refugees of 1967, defines a ref-
ugee as a person who, ‘‘owing to well-founded fear of
being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality,
membership of a particular social group or political opin-
ion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable
or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the
protection of that country’’;
Whereas despite China’s obligations as a party to the United
Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of
1951 and the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees
of 1967, China routinely classifies North Koreans seeking
asylum in China as mere ‘‘economic migrants’’ and re-
turns the refugees to North Korea without regard to the
serious threat of persecution faced by the refugees after
their return;
Whereas the Government of China does not provide North
Koreans whose asylum requests are rejected a right to
have the rejection reviewed prior to deportation despite
the recommendations of the United Nations Convention
relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951 and the Pro-
tocol relating to the Status of Refugees of 1967 that such
a right be granted;
Whereas people attempting to assist North Korean refugees
inside China face danger because of their efforts, includ-
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ing Chun Ki Won, a South Korean citizen detained inside
China since December 2001, and the Reverend Kim
Dong Shik, a United States permanent resident allegedly
abducted by North Korean agents inside China in Janu-
ary 2000; and
Whereas the Government of China recently has permitted
some North Koreans who have managed to enter foreign
diplomatic compounds to travel to South Korea via third
countries, but has forcibly repatriated to North Korea
many others captured inside China: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That Congress—
(1) encourages the Government of China to
honor its obligations under the United Nations Con-
vention relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951,
as modified by the Protocol relating to the Status of
Refugees of 1967, by—
(A) halting the forced repatriation of
North Koreans who face a well-founded fear of
persecution if they are returned to North
Korea;
(B) making genuine efforts to identify and
protect the refugees among the North Korean
migrants encountered by Chinese authorities,
including providing refugees with a reasonable
opportunity to request asylum;
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(C) providing North Korean refugees resid-
ing in China with safe asylum;
(D) allowing the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees to have access to all
North Korean refugees residing in China; and
(E) cooperating with the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees in efforts to
resettle North Korean refugees residing in
China to other countries;
(2) encourages the Secretary of State—
(A) to work with the Government of China
toward the fulfillment of its obligations de-
scribed in paragraph (1); and
(B) to work with concerned governments in
the region toward the protection of North Ko-
rean refugees residing in China;
(3) encourages the United Nations High Com-
missioner for Refugees to facilitate the resettlement
of the North Korean refugees residing in China in
other countries;
(4) encourages the Secretary of State to begin
efforts toward the drafting, introduction, and pas-
sage of a resolution concerning human rights in
North Korea at the 59th Session of the United Na-
tions Commission on Human Rights in March 2003;
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(5) urges the Government of China to release
Mr. Chun Ki Won; and
(6) urges the Governments of the United
States, South Korea, and China to seek a full ac-
counting from the Government of North Korea re-
garding the whereabouts and condition of the Rev-
erend Kim Dong Shik.
Passed the House of Representatives June 11, 2002.
Attest:
JEFF TRANDAHL,
Clerk.
By MARTHA C. MORRISON,
Deputy Clerk.