By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
China on Thursday urged the Canadian Embassy in Beijing to turn over 44 possible North Korean defectors who entered the mission in an apparent bid to seek asylum on Wednesday.

China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Shen Guofang said the asylum seekers would be handled in line with international law and the spirit of humanitarianism if they were handed over.

``Since these people entered Chinese territory illegally, Canada should hand them over to China,’’ Shen said at a news briefing.

A Canadian Embassy spokesman said he wasn’t aware of a Chinese request for custody of the 44 people. Diplomats were trying to confirm their identities and nationality, but the spokesman said at least some were North Korean.

In response, Seoul played down Beijing’s claim that the North Korean defectors violated China’s domestic law by illegally trespassing in the foreign mission.

``We don’t have to take China’s claim seriously,’’ Lee Kyu-hyung, spokesman of the Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry, told The Korea Times. ``I think the North Korean defectors hope to settle in South Korea, and our government is ready to respect their wishes and accept them.’’

Lee also added that the Canadian Embassy is now working together with the Chinese government to identify the asylum seekers and confirm their desires concerning where they wanted to go.

Beijing’s rare stern move is interpreted as a proactive measure to prevent further mass defections after a recent series of attempts by North Koreans to flee their country.

The 44 North Koreans’ attempt is the largest case of its kind following the 29 North Korean defectors who scaled the walls of a Japanese school in Beijing on Sept. 1.

With the U.S. Senate’s approval of a bill aimed at improving the human rights situation in North Korea on Tuesday, China will likely come under more pressure to respect the will of North Korean asylum seekers.

In 2002, four North Koreans scaled the walls of the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, all later going on to South Korea.

Although Beijing is obliged to arrest North Korean defectors in China and repatriate them under an agreement with Pyongyang, it has consistently overlooked North Koreans who successfully enter foreign missions and go to South Korea via a third country.

yoonwonsup@koreatimes.co.kr