NORTH KOREAN CHILDREN: INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENTIANE 000329

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2017
TAGS: CASC PREF PGOV PHUM KN KS KPAO LA
SUBJECT: NORTH KOREAN CHILDREN: INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION
COMPLICATES EFFORTS TO SECURE RELEASE

REF: VIENTIANE 323

Classified By: Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach. Reason: 1.4 b and d.


1. (S) Summary: The South Korean Embassy continues to press
the Lao government for the release of the three North Korean
children detained in November. They are seeking a meeting
with the Director General for Consular Affairs at the Lao
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who has expressed hope for a
resolution during the week of April 23. The Lao government,
according to the South Koreans, is trying to arrange a
solution that will not damage the country's relations with
North Korea. Three Korean-Americans called on the Embassy,s
Political/Economic Chief today and said that they had come to
Vientiane at the behest of an unnamed refugee assistance
organization in order to try to take the children to the
United States -- a plan they have shared with the Lao police.
The Pol/Econ Chief told them that involvement by Americans
is likely to complicate the children's situation. Meanwhile,
international attention continues -- a British journalist
filed a story from Vientiane, and the Ambassador received a
letter from Senator Murray urging the Embassy to take action.
The escalating public attention, now including the physical
presence of at least one foreign journalist and the
Korean-Americans in Vientiane, is likely to further
complicate the delicate negotiations the South Koreans are
pursuing, which still represent the best hope for the
children's release and resettlement. End summary.

Update from South Korean Embassy
--------------


2. (C) The DCM called South Korean Counsellor Miyon Lee
April 23 for an update on the three North Korean children who
have been detained since November 2006. Ms. Lee said that
the children are still in detention, but she hopes for a
resolution soon. She said that Foreign Minister Thongloun
Sisoulith had assigned Vice Foreign Minister Phongsavath
Boupha to handle the issue. However, he is currently out of
the country and has left Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
Director General for Consular Affairs Rangsy Kongsaysy
responsible. The South Korean embassy has requested a
meeting with Mr. Rangsy for April 23 or 24. According to Ms.
Lee, Mr. Rangsy hopes to resolve the issue within the week.
She said that the MFA is trying to resolve the issue in a way
that does not damage Laos,s relationship with North Korea.
(Note: During a previous conversation (Reftel),Ms. Lee said
that the Lao government is making it a condition of the
children's release ) presumably at the behest of the North
Koreans ) that they not be resettled in the United States.
End note.)

Korean-Americans in Vientiane to Try to Help
--------------


3. (S) The Pol-Econ Chief met on April 23 with three
Korean-Americans from Texas who had arrived in Vientiane
several days before. One is a professor at a college near El
Paso and is Pastor of a Korean-American church in El Paso;
the others are members of his congregation. The professor,
who served as the group's spokesman, had called the Embassy
to say that he had a letter from the Senate for the
Ambassador and wanted to meet with an Embassy staff member to
discuss the three children. (Note: he did not provide a copy
of the letter.)


4. (S) The spokesman said that the three had been invited
to go to Vientiane by someone linked to the network moving
North Koreans through Laos. Once in Vientiane, they were
taken to meet with a district police officer on April 20.
They offered to act as "guardians" for the three children if
the GOL would release them. Asked what their plans would be
for the children, they told the police officer they would
take them back to the United States. They added they would
be happy to pay whatever "fines" might be involved. The
police officer asked to make copies of their passports for
his records.


5. (S) The Pol/Econ Chief told the group that any
involvement by Americans in this case was likely to be
counterproductive. A formal statement that potential
guardians would like to take them to the United States was
likely to complicate the situation. Likewise, any attempt by
the Embassy to push publicly for the release of the three
children would likely make the situation more difficult.
They asked what might happen if the children were in fact

VIENTIANE 00000329 002 OF 002


released to their custody: how would they be processed for
entrance to the United States? The Pol/Econ Chief said that
a decision on the children's eventual resettlement would
likely be part of a resettlement process which would have to
be worked out under the auspices of the office of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees in Bangkok.


6. (S) The group asked if it would be advisable for them to
meet with Mr. Kato, the Japanese activist who has publicized
the case in the international press. The Pol/Econ Chief
advised against this. The spokesman expressed concern about
being the subject of violence from North Korean agents in
Vientiane. The Pol/Econ chief said that security in Laos is
the responsibility of the Lao police. He advised the group
to register at the Embassy,s American Citizen Services
section (which they had not done by COB April 23). He
requested that the group call him the next day for a
follow-up meeting.

Continued Press Interest
--------------


7. (SBU) We see that this story continues to receive wide
coverage in the international press. Sunday Times of London
Far East Correspondent Michael Sheridan filed a report from
Vientiane that ran in the April 22 issue. He says in the
report that he went to the North Korean Embassy to inquire
about the children, but guards slammed the door in his face.
The Embassy has not received any inquiries from the press
about the children.

Congressional Inquiry
--------------


8. (SBU) The Embassy received a letter from Senator Patty
Murray of Washington saying that several constituents had
contacted her office to express concern about the children.
The letter says, "In light of the grave nature of these
circumstances, I would like to ask that the Embassy strongly
consider taking action to prevent the three children from
being deported to North Korea." The Embassy has prepared a
draft response and sent it to EAP/MLS for clearance.

Comment
--------------


9. (S) We hope that the South Korean Embassy manages to
negotiate the children's release quickly, since escalating
international attention ) and now the physical presence in
Laos of international press and Korean-Americans ) will only
complicate the situation. What is especially troubling about
the Korean-Americans' arrival is the fact that the South
Korean network moving North Koreans through Laos has
apparently decided that manipulating trusting and uninformed
Korean-Americans into coming to Vientiane to become involved
in trying to resolve this case would be an advantage. We
believe, on the contrary, that this maneuver is likely to
backfire on every front: making resolution of the fate of the
three children absolutely more difficult; undercutting the
efforts of the South Korean Embassy to find a quiet solution;
and endangering the Korean-Americans either by getting them
arrested or possibly subject to violence from the North
Korean Embassy here. The Korean network has never taken this
step in the past to our knowledge, and we are concerned that
those involved believe it would somehow be helpful at this
time. If the three Korean-Americans contact us again, we will
advise them to leave Laos in the interest of their own safety
and that of the three detained children.
HASLACH