PURPOSE OF PRESS CONFERENCE:

When our NGO was founded in 1998, its mission was to supply food, clothing and medicine directly to North Korean refugees. For four years, we delivered material and money in person via our own local supply routes. We also aided refugees hiding in China, who truly need assistance.

Last year, China sharply intensified its crackdown on the North Korean refugees and on the NGOs assisting them. Our Mr. Kato, who visited Dalian on LFNKR business on Oct. 30, was detained and interrogated for 7 days by the Chinese police.

During the interrogation, information on our local staff members and the locations of our shelters where North Korean refugees were hiding was found and confiscated by the Chinese Police. This compromised every one of our operations in China.

In addition, Mr. Kato was expelled from China and prohibited from re-entering for five years. With our local activities completely disrupted, we are now seeking new ways to effect local efforts for rescuing refugees.

Since we have not yet been able to develop a realistic plan for restoring our local activities in China, it is imperative that we appeal to the international community and urge that the North Korean refugees issue be addressed extensively by the international community as a serious Human Rights Issue.

As a first step toward such a resolution, LFNKR suggests the following actions:

1. It is our firm belief that the question of refugee status is an international issue and, therefore, should be governed by relevant international laws (i.e. 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the Protocol thereto of 1967), and is not to be ruled by Chinese national laws. Clearly, this is an ordinary case of violation of international law when the government of China, under Chinese law, arrests North Korean refugees and the humanitarian aid workers helping them.
   
   
2. The North Korean refugee issue should be recognized as a serious Human Rights issue to be addressed by the international community, including the countries related to China in this issue, as well as South Korea, the EU, the United States, and Japan. We strongly suggest that an international framework be created for dealing with this issue. The first and most urgent step is official approval by the Chinese government of the North Korean defectors as refugees according to the International Convention on Refugees.
   
   
3. We ask the international community to join us in our appeal for the release of North Korean defectors and humanitarian aid workers including Mr. Kim Hee Tae, a South Korean student, Choi Wan Dal, a Chinese Christian leader, and Kim Kum Nam, a North Korean defector.
   
   
4. We also urge the international community to help us locate our foster children and the North Korean refugees with whom we have completely lost contact since Mr. Kato was arrested in Dalian on Oct. 30 this year.

Kenkichi Nakadaira
Representative
Life Funds for North Korean Refugees
A-101 2-2-8, Nishikata, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo

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