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North Korean Diplomats Hide Their Children
North Korean diplomats working abroad were ordered by national leader Kim Jong-il to send their children back to Pyongyang by the end of March, leaving only one child living with them, and only if that child is between the ages of 11 and 13. The children in their homeland would serve as a guarantee that the parents did not seek political asylum abroad. Of the 3000-4000 children awaited in the North Korean capital, only tens arrived.
The South Korean press, which is always the main source of information in the country's northern neighbor, was the first to report on the diplomats' unprecedented disobedience. Not a single child returned from China, North Korea's closest ally. A North Korean deputy foreign minister was even dispatched to Beijing to impose order. Parents objected that the move would disrupt their children's educations. Another parent said that there was not enough time to prepare. The deadline for the return of the children to the homeland was extended by one month.
North Korea clamped down on its citizens' travel abroad after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The number of the country's foreign embassies was reduced to 47, according to Western media. (The North Korean Foreign Ministry does not make the number of its embassies public.) At that time, the number of children diplomats and trade representatives were allowed to take abroad was limited to one. That restriction was lifted five years ago. North Korean citizens who live the country to do physical labor on contract are not allowed to take any children with them. In the 1990s, all North Korean students were called back to their homeland as well. Now North Korean students are only allowed to study in China.
It is not yet clear what consequences the diplomats' current move will have. Disobeying an order of Kim Jong-il is a very serious crime.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 05, 2007
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