The Asahi Shimbun speculated a hunt for North Korean defectors in China is part of efforts by the North to tighten the regime's control ahead of an extraordinary congress of the Workers Party that starts Tuesday.
Chinese and North Korean sources are saying some 100 secret police from several security agencies in North Korea have teamed up with hundreds of armed Chinese police to round up North Korean defectors throughout China. "It appears that scores of North Korean defectors have been arrested by the teams and repatriated to the North," the Asahi Shimbun reports.
North Korean secret police have been homing in on Yunnan Province and its vicinity, a major defection route to Vietnam, Laos or Thailand, and on South Korean and Korean-Chinese businesses suspected of harboring North Korean defectors. They are combing Shandong Province on the eastern coast and Guangdong Province on the southern coast, which are home to many such enterprises.
"To arrest North Korean defectors, some North Korean secret police disguise themselves as defectors, and others work undercover at South Korean or Korean-Chinese stores or companies," the daily said.
North Korean secret police have been homing in on Yunnan Province and its vicinity, a major defection route to Vietnam, Laos or Thailand, and on South Korean and Korean-Chinese businesses suspected of harboring North Korean defectors. They are combing Shandong Province on the eastern coast and Guangdong Province on the southern coast, which are home to many such enterprises.
"To arrest North Korean defectors, some North Korean secret police disguise themselves as defectors, and others work undercover at South Korean or Korean-Chinese stores or companies," the daily said.
No comments:
Post a Comment