November 17, 2002 - Korea Herald: Official says Peace Corps work with North Korea could begin in the Stalinist state's special enclaves like Sinuiju
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November 17, 2002 - Korea Herald: Official says Peace Corps work with North Korea could begin in the Stalinist state's special enclaves like Sinuiju
Official says Peace Corps work with North Korea could begin in the Stalinist state's special enclaves like Sinuiju
Read and comment on this story from the Korea Herald on Dr. Kyo "Paul’’ Jhin, Director of the office of planning, policy and analysis at the U.S. Peace Corps who said Peace Corps work with North Korea could begin in the Stalinist state's special enclaves like Sinuiju.
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Korean-American Peace Corps official stresses Seoul's greater role in N.K. defector issue*
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Korean-American Peace Corps official stresses Seoul's greater role in N.K. defector issue
A Korean-American senior official of the U.S. Peace Corps yesterday urged South Korea to do more to help North Korean defectors out of their life-threatening plight in China.
"North Korean defectors should be recognized as refugees. But China is trying to say they are not refugees, although they are," said Paul Jhin, director for planning, policy and analysis at the biggest U.S. overseas volunteers agency.
The Seoul government should put more pressure on Beijing "to let these people go, let them be free," Jhin said in an interview with The Korea Herald.
The 67-year-old Korean emigrant was in Seoul to attend an international volunteers' conference. He was named to the U.S. Peace Corps' third-highest post, a deputy assistant-secretary level, in March this year.
Currently, about 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers are serving in 75 countries around the world, in such fields as education, environment, business and agriculture.
Jhin said his organization plans to double the number within the next five years to approach their goal of "addressing human needs and making (people's) lives better."
One of the beneficiaries could be North Korea "some day," he noted.
Jhin said although a country needs diplomatic relations with the United States to receive its volunteers, the Peace Corps work with the North could begin in the Stalinist state's special enclaves like Sinuiju, a recently designated special administrative zone.
"If Sinuiju does become a free court and the North Korean government approves and welcomes the Peace Corps volunteers, it would be a different matter," he said.
(jihoho@koreaherald.co.kr By Kim Ji-ho Staff reporter
2002.11.18
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I found the article about Chinese policy of not treating NK defestors as refugees by Dr. Kyo "Paul’’ Jhin very interesting.
In fact, China'a policy pretty much parallels U.S. policy. If some one from some non-communist, Central American country that we recognize showed up on our doorstep and claimed political asylum, we would probably not recognize that person as a political refugee.
But in China's case the situation is even more desperate for those seeking asylum; even Chinese are not free to travel about their own country. Rightly or wrongly, China restricts its own people to a degree we would find abhorrent, because we are unaccustomed to such restrictions.
The part of the article about using the new special zone in Sinuiju as a place to carry out negotiations is also kind of amusing. It so happens that China was kept in the dark about that move until it was announced publicly late last fall. Naturally the Chinese were quite miffed about it.
What particularly irked them is that the new mayor of the city is very unpopular with the Chinese government apparently due to his failure to pay taxes on the enormous wealth he's amassed over the years. Again, all this was done literally under China's nose; Sinuiju is directly across the border from China, and its success depends on China's support.
