VZCZCXRO6206
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHVN #0337 1150946
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 250946Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1156
INFO RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL IMMEDIATE 0560
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1172
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY

S E C R E T VIENTIANE 000337 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/K 
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM 
PACOM FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/25/2017 
TAGS: PREF PHUM PGOV KN KS LA
SUBJECT: NORTH KOREAN CHILDREN IN SOUTH KOREAN EMBASSY 
CUSTODY; SET TO DEPART APRIL 25 
 
REF: VIENTIANE 329 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA HASLACH.  REASON: 1.4 B AND D. 
 
¶1.  (S)  Summary:  The South Korean Embassy confirmed that 
the three North Korean children who have been detained since 
November 2006 are in their custody and will leave Laos on the 
evening of April 25.  It was the South Koreans, quiet 
efforts, rather than the NGO-generated flurry of publicity, 
that led to the children's release, though unfortunately NGOs 
are unlikely to draw this conclusion.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (S)  The DCM called South Korean Counsellor Miyon Lee on 
April 25 to ask about press reports saying that the three 
North Korean children who had been in detention in Laos since 
November 2006 had been released into the custody of the South 
Korean Embassy.  Ms. Lee replied, &We have them.  We will 
send them this evening.8  She emphasized that this 
information should be kept secret.  She said that she was 
going out of town and would provide us with further details 
after her return on April 30. 
 
¶3.  (S)  Comment:  The release of the children was the result 
of the South Korean Embassy,s lengthy discussions with the 
Lao government, complicated by the Lao government's 
reluctance to incur the displeasure of the North Korean 
government, with which it also has close diplomatic 
relations.  It occurred despite extensive publicity generated 
by a representative of a Japanese NGO, including stories in 
the Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Sunday 
Times of London, and many other publications around the 
world.  This attention may have delayed the children's 
release, which seemed imminent before the Lao New Year 14-16 
holiday.  However, the Japanese NGO and other North Korean 
refugee advocates are likely to conclude that it was their 
pressure that got the children released. 
 
¶4.  (S)  Comment continued:  The children,s reported desire 
to resettle in the United States was another complicating 
factor in the case.  Ms. Lee told us (Reftel) that the Lao 
had made 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.  The arrival of 
well-meaning Korean-Americans who told the police that they 
wanted to take custody of the children could have been an 
additional complicating factor but fortunately does not seem 
to have caused a problem.  (We did not hear from the group 
after the meeting discussed in Reftel.)  Throughout the 
children,s detention, Embassy Vientiane has kept in close 
touch with the South Korean Embassy but has not discussed the 
case with the Lao government or become publicly involved.  If 
we had, the children would probably still be in detention and 
facing the possibility of repatriation to North Korea.   End 
comment. 
 
 
HASLACH