SEOUL (Kyodo) A Laotian government official has demanded that a Japanese nongovernmental organization seeking the release of three North Korean teenagers from a Laotian prison pay $ 1,000 in cash per detainee, a group representative said Sunday.
Hiroshi Kato, chairman of the Life Funds for North Korean Refugees, said the Tokyo-based group has rejected the idea of paying, but it is concerned Laos could accede to Pyongyang's demands and extradite the three youths to North Korea.
According to Kato, the three detainees are a 17-year-old girl, a 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, all from North Hamgyong Province in northeastern North Korea.
They smuggled themselves into China in the early 2000s after suffering food shortages, the death of their parents and other hardships in their homeland. Now they hope to find exile in the United States.
The children were caught by Laotian border security officials in November as they were crossing the Mekong River in an attempt to go to Thailand via Laos, said Kato, who met them in a prison in Vientiane.
They were given a three-month prison term for illegal entry into Laos. Although the three months have passed, they are still being detained, he said.
Kato's group contacted the Laotian government to become guarantors for the youths and was told by a government official they could be handed over to the Japanese group for $ 1,000 each.
The NGO decided to reject the request, fearing it would set a bad example in seeking the protection of North Korean refugees in Laos.
But the group is alarmed after learning that a North Korean consul visited the prison Friday and demanded that Vientiane deport the three to North Korea.
I don't think that's right, Laos: Prabang, Pra Keow, Pra Souk, Pra Sarm, Pra Sai...etc we're a land of Buddhist. An being buddhist follower show some human kind, some mercy...money shouldn't be everything, i'm not talking about the the LPDR Gov. (for sure moneys everything to them) i'm talking about Khon Lao in Laos, low rank officer...citizen. Buddhist taught us to help other when in need, but no... someone's gotta turn people who try to escape hell into another kind hell! Shame on you, if u call yourself a buddhist...those Koreans a just children looking for a better life. And most wonder why...asians becoming christian, catholics...it's because they're helping people in surfering. I'm a buddhist and damn, my religion taught me better than to kill...*now i'm mad, arrrrr....* So please next time before you turn another sad soul in to ur GOVERNMENT...think about what your religion or atleast think about morality. One day might be you or your kids running from your government! Kob jai for reading this and pass it your elders in Laos who doesn't know what's going on. Sabaidee and La Gone
