Page 135 - Trilateral Korea Japan U.S. Cooperation

entry life of defectors in Japan. Unlike South Korea, Japan has
no official policy to help defectors settle in Japan. Many of the
Japanese relatives of defectors also live in poverty and have no
ability to support their relatives who return to Japan after their
defection.

In addition, Koreans living in Japan are largely divided into
two groups, one supporting North Korea and the other
supporting South Korea, and there is a conflict between these
two groups among relatives. Those in the group supporting
North Korea are reluctant to willingly welcome those who
have defected against the North Korean regime. They also
worry that the North Korean government will persecute
other relatives who remain in North Korea because one of
their relatives has defected. As a matter of fact, North Korean
families of defectors are reportedly being closely monitored.

North Korean Defector Relief Activities

With the current situation where the Chinese government
is forcibly deporting North Korean defectors back to
North Korea, where they are subjected to persecution that
is unacceptable from a humanitarian standpoint, the relief
of North Korean defectors in China is an international
humanitarian issue.

The Japanese government has been taking North Korean
defectors with Japanese citizenship into custody at Japanese
embassies and other facilities and, with the approval of the
Chinese government, has been welcoming them to Japan.

134 Section II : Human Rights, Abductees, Forced Repatriation of Refugees and the Regional Implications