NORTH KOREAN REFUGEE DEVELOPMENTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 003842 SIPDIS SIPDIS GENEVA FOR RMA E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2016 TAGS: PREF PGOV PREL PHUM KN KS TH SUBJECT: NORTH KOREAN REFUGEE DEVELOPMENTS Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR SUSAN SUTTON, REASON 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (C) UNHCR Regional Representative Hasim Utkan told Refcoord on June 28 that the head of the Thai National Security Council, General Winai Phattiyakul, had told him the previous day that Thai intelligence was reporting that UNHCR was involved in the trafficking of NORTH Koreans to Thailand. Utkan said he assured Winai that this was not the case, and that UNHCR was playing only a facilitative role for the ROK pipeline that moved NORTH Koreans to the ROK. Utkan also told Winai that UNHCR's activites helped to keep the issue low-profile and prevent cases where NORTH Koreans might jump over Embassy walls. Utkan noted to Winai that UNHCR was playing a role with NORTH Koreans interested in U.S. resettlement. ¶2. (C) Winai told Utkan that he would work to dispel any notion within the RTG that UNHCR was engaged in trafficking of NORTH Koreans. Winai said that Thailand's policy was to work with the USG on a case-by-case, discreet basis. The RTG had also received reports that many NORTH Koreans were waiting in Laos to cross into Thailand. Winai said he was surprised that the DPRK had not reacted negatively to the movement of NORTH Koreans through Thailand. He emphasized the critical importance of having no publicity about the issue. ¶3. (C) On June 29, Refcoord received a telephone call from the ROK from an associate of Reverend Chun Ki-won, the Director of the Durihana Mission. This person, Reverend Choi, stated that Reverend Chun was not responsible for the article published that day in the South Korean press about North Korean refugees at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok. Chun had not spoken to the press. Rather, the ROKG was responsible. Reverend Choi said the ROKG wanted to stop the movement of NORTH Korean refugees to the United States and so was publicizing the presence of the NORTH Koreans in Thailand who had approached the U.S. Embassy. Post obtained a copy of a June 29 Yonhap article which cited ROKG officials discussing a South Korean media story about NORTH Koreans in Thailand. ¶4. (C) Post received an inquiry June 29 from the Associated Press asking for comment on the South Korean press report. Post responded with standard guidance that long-standing USG policy is not to comment on refugee or asylum cases. ARVIZU