VZCZCXRO5250
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN
DE RUEHVN #0025/01 0110845
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 110845Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0764
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 7079
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2075
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 2797
RUEHPF/AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH 1874
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0531
RUEHUM/AMEMBASSY ULAANBAATAR 0081
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0186
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 0501
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENTIANE 000025 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/K, PRM, DRL/SENK, DRL, IO; 
PACOM FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/10/2017 
TAGS: ASEC KN KS LA PHUM PREF PREL SMIG
SUBJECT: NEW INFORMATION ON NORTH KOREANS DETAINED IN LAOS: 
5 RELEASED; 3 STILL DETAINED 
 
REF: A. VIENTIANE 0006 
 
     ¶B. 06 VIENTIANE 1220 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( 
d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: South Korean Embassy Counsellor Lee told 
Poloffs January 11 that five North Korean refugees detained 
almost a month in northern Laos had been released by local 
authorities.  The five are on their way to Vientiane from 
where the South Korean Embassy expects them to depart quietly 
to Thailand.  Ms. Lee had no new information on the three 
North Korean girls detained in Vientiane.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) South Korean Embassy Counsellor Miyon Lee told Poloffs 
that her Embassy had written a letter directly to the local 
authorities in the northern Laos province of Oudomxay where 
five North Korean refugees had been held for almost a month. 
The letter requested that Oudomxay release the five "because 
they are Koreans" she explained.  (Note: This contradicts Ms. 
Lee's comment to us last week that it remained unclear 
whether the five "are really North Koreans or Chinese." (ref 
A))  Surprisingly, since the South Korean Embassy had been 
earlier told the five had been "formally arrested" and thus 
officials had no latitude, the Oudomxay authorities decided 
to release the five.  Ms. Lee opined this may have been 
because the local authorities "were tired of having to take 
care of the five" for all of these weeks.  She affirmed the 
South Korean Embassy had made no monetary payments to the 
local officials in Oudomxay either for care of the five 
during the past month or to secure their release.  (Note: Of 
course their families or other supporters may have done this 
directly.) 
 
¶3. (C) Ms. Lee said the five are on their way to Vientiane, 
perhaps arriving as soon as the afternoon of January 11.  The 
South Korean Embassy will help put them in contact with a 
"broker" to help move them across the border into Thailand as 
soon as possible.  (Note: Ms. Lee made clear that her Embassy 
does not pay the brokers, although the families or other 
supporters of the refugees may do so. (ref A))  Ms. Lee was 
clear that this case will not be over for her Embassy until 
the five are actually safely across the border. 
 
¶4. (C) Poloffs asked Ms. Lee for an update on the three North 
Korean teenage girls detained in Vientiane since November 19. 
 They also asked about the current rumor that the girls may 
want to go to the United States.  Ms. Lee said there has been 
no movement toward releasing the three.  Indeed, the fact 
that international organizations (UNICEF: UNDP) have raised 
their situation has made the possibility of a quiet release 
-- as was achieved in the Oudomxay case -- much more 
difficult.  Ms. Lee said she had not heard anything about the 
three wanting to go to the United States since no one here 
has had direct contact with them. 
 
¶5. (C) Comment: The only successes we have seen in dealing 
with the central or provincial governments in Laos on refugee 
issues have occurred in cases where there has been no 
international "spotlight."  Formal attempts by international 
organizations or Vientiane-based Embassies to intervene have 
made more difficult the quiet diplomacy favored by the South 
Koreans.  The fact that Oudomxay authorities were, for 
whatever reason, willing to release these five is a 
particularly good sign.  The provincial capital of Muang Xay 
is a key transportation hub in northern Laos on the main 
transportation route from China's Yunnan Province. 
 
¶6. (C) Comment continued: Once these five are able to depart 
Laos for Thailand, only the three girls remain in detention 
-- as far as we and the South Korean Embassy are aware.  We 
cannot verify the recent claim by a U.S. NGO to PRM that the 
three girls would like to settle in the United States.  We 
cannot even say with any certainty where they are being 
detained and question the source of this NGO's information. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
VIENTIANE 00000025  002 OF 002 
 
 
HASLACH