A group of North Korean refugees and defectors perform a musical routine at the Imjingak 'peace park' near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas recently. About 33,000 North Koreans have resettled in the affluent, democratic South. Most risked their lives to cross the border in a journey that may entail persecution and slave labour, if caught and repatriated. - AFP
SEOUL: A group of 11 North Koreans who were detained in Vietnam while seeking to defect to South Korea have been released thanks to the help of European institutions, a Seoul-based activist group said on Saturday (Jan 4).
The eight women and three men were caught by border guards in northern Vietnam in late November after crossing from China, and had been held in the northeastern border city of Lang Son.
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