US urges China to protect NK defectors

A US State Department spokeswoman has urged all countries to cooperate in protecting North Korean refugees and asylum seekers within their territories, a US broadcaster reported Tuesday.

Katina Adams, a spokeswoman for the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, made the remark over the phone, while commenting on China's latest refusal of the UN Human Rights Council's calls to stop its repatriation of North Korea defectors, Voice of America said. 

Kim Jeong-ah, leader of Tongil Mom, a group of North Korean women who have defected, urges China not to deport North Korean defectors during a rally in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington on Oct. 31, 2016. (Yonhap)

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang repeated the Chinese government's stance that the defectors are not refugees, asserting that China has properly dealt with people who illegally cross the border pertinent to domestic and international laws and humanitarian principles.

The US government is deeply concerned about the treatment of North Korean defectors, and continuously cooperating with the US, human rights watchdog for their protection, Katina was cited as saying. (Yonhap)