ASSISTING NORTH KOREANS IN NORTHEAST CHINA: ONE GROUP'S STORY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SEOUL 003891



SIPDIS



SIPDIS



E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2016

TAGS: PREF PRUM KTIP KN KS CH

SUBJECT: ASSISTING NORTH KOREANS IN NORTHEAST CHINA: ONE

GROUP'S STORY



Classified By: A/POL Brian McFeeters. Reasons 1.4 (b,d)



SUMMARY

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¶1. (C) Crossing Borders (protect) is a Christian organization

that provides assistance to North Korean migrants and

refugees in Yanji, China. American citizen Mike Kim (KIM

Sun-jung),approached the Embassy on November 1 to discuss

his organization's operations in China. Crossing Borders'

Korean-Chinese staff frequently travels into North Korea and

produces reports on the situation inside the DPRK. Kim, a

Korean-American, shared stories that he heard from North

Koreans that passed through his shelters. COMMENT: We are

unsure of Kim's motivation for approaching us, and are

cautious about the veracity of some of his claims about

Crossing Borders' work and the defector stories he recounted.

Nonetheless, we believe that his organization could be an

important source for information on conditions in North Korea

and a worthwhile contact to maintain. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT.

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CROSSING BORDERS: OPERATIONS

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¶2. (C) Mike Kim (protect),a Korean-American who has lived in

Northeast China for four years, requested a meeting with

Poloffs on November 1 to discuss his involvement with

Christian-based organization Crossing Borders (protect). Kim

first went to China to visit house churches ("basically two

or three people praying in someone's home") and witness

first-hand the persecution of Christians. During the trip,

he learned of the plight of North Korean refugees and was

inspired to work on the issue after meeting his first North

Korean refugee, a North Korean girl who he thought was seven,

when she was in fact 13. Kim moved to China under cover of

being an electrician. Fearing discovery by Chinese

authorities, he changed his cover to a Taekwondo teacher, as

he has no training as an electrician. In an interesting

twist, Kim said that he had trained with two North Korean

Taekwondo masters in Yanji.

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¶3. (C) Kim initially focused on helping North Korean refugees

seek asylum in third countries. He reported with pride that

he was involved in the 2003 incident in Shanghai in which

four North Korean teenagers entered the British Consulate.

Following Chinese crackdowns and deportations of North Korean

refugees after several such high-profile incursions into

diplomatic facilities, Kim reported his surprise at hearing

some farmers in Northeast China complain about the Crossing

Borders' tactics. These farmers, whose North Korean wives

had been deported, argued that, until the profile of the

issue was raised through such incidents, North Koreans were

able to live relatively undisturbed in Northeast China.

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¶4. (C) Kim reported that most foreign activists who help

North Korean refugees in Northeast China do not last long.

They are generally arrested and deported within one year.

Because Kim wanted to live and work in China for a longer

time period, he decided to focus his work on providing

assistance to North Korean migrants and refugees and to

obtaining information on the situation inside North Korea.

Crossing Borders sends ten teams of Korean-Chinese staff in

to North Korea each month to gather information about the

situation there. These teams report primarily on social,

humanitarian, and human rights issues, but occasionally

gather information on military issues, Kim said.

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¶5. (C) Crossing Borders also provides humanitarian assistance

and religious instruction and materials to North Korean

migrants and refugees that pass through its shelters and

Churches in Yanji, China, Kim stated. Crossing Borders, he

said, no longer helps North Koreans seek asylum elsewhere,

but rather helps North Koreans integrate in China or return

to North Korea. While the organization allows North Koreans

to choose their path, it encourages North Koreans to return

to the DPRK and return periodically to China with information

and for additional materials. Kim said his organization

thinks returning to North Korea is the best solution for

North Koreans, who face difficulty integrating elsewhere, and

said that Crossing Borders helps them establish business or

other means of surviving in North Korea.



SEOUL 00003891 002 OF 002





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DEFECTOR TESTIMONIES

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¶6. (C) Kim reported that, based on a survey conducted of the

North Koreans that passed through Crossing Borders' shelters

and churches, 97 percent of North Korean women are

trafficking victims. Kim told of another defector who had

been imprisoned in North Korea and reported being used by

prison guards for Taekwondo practice. Despite their

hardships, Kim said he has been struck by North Koreans'

resilience and will to survive.

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¶7. (C) Kim also told us about a former DPRK soldier who

recalled watching television footage of U.S. operations in

Operation Desert Storm, and many considered that North Korean

forces could not compete. The DPRK solders were impressed

with the superior capabilities of the U.S. military. The

military, according to this defector, did not have enough

food, and many soldiers where unable to complete their daily

exercise routine due to malnutrition. Many were unable to

concentrate, Kim said the defector reported, because they

spent most of their time thinking of food or sleep. Kim said

that many soldiers are reportedly encouraged to steal goods

such as alcohol from other North Korean citizens for their

commanding officers. Kim described being struck by the

defector's description of the North Korean soldiers'

mentality, as most soldiers knew that many of them would not

survive in a war with the U.S. Kim recounted that the

defector told him that if a war broke out, most soldiers

would first shoot their commanding officers.

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REPORTING INTO A BLACK HOLE

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¶8. (C) Kim told Poloffs that Crossing Borders' reports are

produced and archived within the organization, and not

disseminated on a more regular basis. Kim expressed some

surprise at USG interest in information collected from North

Korean defectors and by Crossing Borders' representatives who

travel into North Korea. Kim said that the organization had

struggled between publicizing its information widely,

particularly through the media, and keeping its operations

and information more discreet. Kim seemed open to Poloffs'

suggestions for quiet and confidential channels through which

reporting could be shared with the USG, other NGOs, or both.

STANTON