SOUTH KOREANS AGREE TO VET NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES

C O N F I D E N T I A L PHNOM PENH 000925 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR PRM, EAP, MLS AND EAP/K BANGKOK ALSO FOR REFUGEE COORDINATOR GENEVA FOR RMA E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2017 TAGS: PREF PREL KS KN CB SUBJECT: SOUTH KOREANS AGREE TO VET NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES REF: PHNOM PENH 0839 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Political Officer Janet E. Deutsch for reasons 1.4 (b) a nd (d). ¶1. (C) On July 9, the DCM called on Embassy of the Republic of Korea Counselors Nak-Young OH and Gon-Jong JANG regarding the five North Korean refugees seeking resettlement in the United States (reftel). The DCM passed biographical information and fingerprints of the five individuals to the Koreans who agreed to transmit the information to the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul for name checks. The ROK will perform background security checks and determine whether the individuals have previously been resettled in South Korea as refugees. ¶2. (C) Comment. It appeared that the South Korean Embassy had not received instructions from the ROK MFA. We suggest that U.S. Embassy Seoul communicate with relevant contacts in the ROK government to alert them that the refugees' biographical data and fingerprints are forthcoming from the ROK Embassy in Phnom Penh. OH and JANG ambiguously took on the task of investigating the five North Koreans and Post is uncertain whether the ROK Embassy will definitively proceed. The Counselors were preoccupied with conveying their desire that the ROK pipeline for North Korean refugees not be publicly revealed and remain separate from any U.S. refugee processing pipeline for North Koreans. The DCM stated that this is also the intention of the U.S.G. End comment. MUSSOMELI