VZCZCXRO3442
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHVN #0329/01 1131028
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 231028Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1147
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2160
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0043
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0557
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1169
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0608

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENTIANE 000329 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2017 
TAGS: CASC PREF PGOV PHUM KN KS KPAO LA
SUBJECT: NORTH KOREAN CHILDREN: INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION 
COMPLICATES EFFORTS TO SECURE RELEASE 
 
REF: VIENTIANE 323 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach.  Reason: 1.4 b and d. 
 
¶1. (S)  Summary:  The South Korean Embassy continues to press 
the Lao government for the release of the three North Korean 
children detained in November.  They are seeking a meeting 
with the Director General for Consular Affairs at the Lao 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who has expressed hope for a 
resolution during the week of April 23.  The Lao government, 
according to the South Koreans, is trying to arrange a 
solution that will not damage the country's relations with 
North Korea.  Three Korean-Americans called on the Embassy,s 
Political/Economic Chief today and said that they had come to 
Vientiane at the behest of an unnamed refugee assistance 
organization in order to try to take the children to the 
United States -- a plan they have shared with the Lao police. 
 The Pol/Econ Chief told them that involvement by Americans 
is likely to complicate the children's situation.  Meanwhile, 
international attention continues -- a British journalist 
filed a story from Vientiane, and the Ambassador received a 
letter from Senator Murray urging the Embassy to take action. 
 The escalating public attention, now including the physical 
presence of at least one foreign journalist and the 
Korean-Americans in Vientiane, is likely to further 
complicate the delicate negotiations the South Koreans are 
pursuing, which still represent the best hope for the 
children's release and resettlement.  End summary. 
 
Update from South Korean Embassy 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  The DCM called South Korean Counsellor Miyon Lee 
April 23 for an update on the three North Korean children who 
have been detained since November 2006.  Ms. Lee said that 
the children are still in detention, but she hopes for a 
resolution soon.  She said that Foreign Minister Thongloun 
Sisoulith had assigned Vice Foreign Minister Phongsavath 
Boupha to handle the issue.  However, he is currently out of 
the country and has left Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) 
Director General for Consular Affairs Rangsy Kongsaysy 
responsible.  The South Korean embassy has requested a 
meeting with Mr. Rangsy for April 23 or 24.  According to Ms. 
Lee, Mr. Rangsy hopes to resolve the issue within the week. 
She said that the MFA is trying to resolve the issue in a way 
that does not damage Laos,s relationship with North Korea. 
(Note:  During a previous conversation (Reftel), Ms. Lee said 
that the Lao government is making it a condition of the 
children's release ) presumably at the behest of the North 
Koreans ) that they not be resettled in the United States. 
End note.) 
 
Korean-Americans in Vientiane to Try to Help 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (S)  The Pol-Econ Chief met on April 23 with three 
Korean-Americans from Texas who had arrived in Vientiane 
several days before.  One is a professor at a college near El 
Paso and is Pastor of a Korean-American church in El Paso; 
the others are members of his congregation.  The professor, 
who served as the group's spokesman, had called the Embassy 
to say that he had a letter from the Senate for the 
Ambassador and wanted to meet with an Embassy staff member to 
discuss the three children.  (Note: he did not provide a copy 
of the letter.) 
 
¶4.  (S)  The spokesman said that the three had been invited 
to go to Vientiane by someone linked to the network moving 
North Koreans through Laos.  Once in Vientiane, they were 
taken to meet with a district police officer on April 20. 
They offered to act as "guardians" for the three children if 
the GOL would release them.  Asked what their plans would be 
for the children, they told the police officer they would 
take them back to the United States.  They added they would 
be happy to pay whatever "fines" might be involved.  The 
police officer asked to make copies of their passports for 
his records. 
 
¶5.  (S)  The Pol/Econ Chief told the group that any 
involvement by Americans in this case was likely to be 
counterproductive.  A formal statement that potential 
guardians would like to take them to the United States was 
likely to complicate the situation.  Likewise, any attempt by 
the Embassy to push publicly for the release of the three 
children would likely make the situation more difficult. 
They asked what might happen if the children were in fact 
 
VIENTIANE 00000329  002 OF 002 
 
 
released to their custody: how would they be processed for 
entrance to the United States?  The Pol/Econ Chief said that 
a decision on the children's eventual resettlement would 
likely be part of a resettlement process which would have to 
be worked out under the auspices of the office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees in Bangkok. 
 
¶6.  (S)  The group asked if it would be advisable for them to 
meet with Mr. Kato, the Japanese activist who has publicized 
the case in the international press.  The Pol/Econ Chief 
advised against this.  The spokesman expressed concern about 
being the subject of violence from North Korean agents in 
Vientiane.  The Pol/Econ chief said that security in Laos is 
the responsibility of the Lao police.  He advised the group 
to register at the Embassy,s American Citizen Services 
section (which they had not done by COB April 23).  He 
requested that the group call him the next day for a 
follow-up meeting. 
 
Continued Press Interest 
------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  We see that this story continues to receive wide 
coverage in the international press.  Sunday Times of London 
Far East Correspondent Michael Sheridan filed a report from 
Vientiane that ran in the April 22 issue.  He says in the 
report that he went to the North Korean Embassy to inquire 
about the children, but guards slammed the door in his face. 
The Embassy has not received any inquiries from the press 
about the children. 
 
Congressional Inquiry 
--------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  The Embassy received a letter from Senator Patty 
Murray of Washington saying that several constituents had 
contacted her office to express concern about the children. 
The letter says, "In light of the grave nature of these 
circumstances, I would like to ask that the Embassy strongly 
consider taking action to prevent the three children from 
being deported to North Korea."  The Embassy has prepared a 
draft response and sent it to EAP/MLS for clearance. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9.  (S)  We hope that the South Korean Embassy manages to 
negotiate the children's release quickly, since escalating 
international attention ) and now the physical presence in 
Laos of international press and Korean-Americans ) will only 
complicate the situation.  What is especially troubling about 
the Korean-Americans' arrival is the fact that the South 
Korean network moving North Koreans through Laos has 
apparently decided that manipulating trusting and uninformed 
Korean-Americans into coming to Vientiane to become involved 
in trying to resolve this case would be an advantage.  We 
believe, on the contrary, that this maneuver is likely to 
backfire on every front: making resolution of the fate of the 
three children absolutely more difficult; undercutting the 
efforts of the South Korean Embassy to find a quiet solution; 
and endangering the Korean-Americans either by getting them 
arrested or possibly subject to violence from the North 
Korean Embassy here.  The Korean network has never taken this 
step in the past to our knowledge, and we are concerned that 
those involved believe it would somehow be helpful at this 
time. If the three Korean-Americans contact us again, we will 
advise them to leave Laos in the interest of their own safety 
and that of the three detained children. 
HASLACH