hankyoreh

A group of seven North Korean defectors, who had been under U.N. protection in China, have arrived in the United States, a U.S. government-funded radio station said Saturday.

The defectors were among the 17 North Koreans in the custody of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Beijing, the Voice of America said. The other 10 are still in Beijing, it said.

Their entry brought to 43 the total number of North Koreans who settled on U.S. soil on the basis of the North Korean Human Rights Act. The U.S. legislation was adopted in 2004 to ease rules for the U.S. government to assist North Korean defectors by granting them asylum or providing assistance to people in North Korea and human rights organizations helping them.

No details were released about the identities of the defectors except that they included a mother and her two children, the report said. Since their arrival in Chicago on Thursday, three of them were moved to Seattle on Friday, the report said.

The report came after a group of U.S. legislators appealed to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to help the defectors leave China. Eight senators and members of Congress signed the letter to Ban, saying, "We understand that the PRC (People's Republic of China) is refusing them exit visas unless the UNHCR agrees not to process any more asylum seekers until after the Beijing Olympics."

Thousands of North Koreans are believed to be hiding in China, which their country shares a border with, as they search for a way to resettle in a third country. But concerned about border security and an uncontrollable influx of refugees, Beijing has been cracking down on those whom it sees as illegal entrants, sometimes repatriating them to the North, where they face harsh punishment, including execution.

The refugee issue has been further complicated as Beijing tightens security ahead of the Summer Olympics in August.

The letter was signed by Sens. Tom Coburn and Sam Brownback, and Reps. Ed Royce, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Joseph Pitts, Sander Levin, Diane Watson and Frank Wolf.

SEOUL, March 22 (Yonhap)