VZCZCXYZ0009
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVN #0893/01 3451149
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 111149Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1688
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 7564
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 2215
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 0594

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENTIANE 000893 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS (BESTIC) 
DEPT FOR PRM (PONGONIS) 
DEPT FOR OPERATIONS CENTER 
DEPT FOR DS/IP/EAP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2017 
TAGS: ASEC PREL LA KN SW
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH SWEDISH CHARGE TO DISCUSS 
DPRK CITIZENS 
 
REF: VIENTIANE 888 
 
Classified By: RAVIC R. HUSO, AMBASSADOR, FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) & (d) 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request: please see paragraph 14. 
 
¶2. (C//NF) Summary: According to Swedish diplomats, the two 
North Koreans continue to insist that their intent is to seek 
asylum in the United States.  While the ROK Embassy is 
prepared and able to assist them to travel to South Korea, it 
is not prepared to take action until the two asylum seekers 
indicate that relocation to South Korea is their desire. 
Embassy requests Department provide guidance on possible 
relocation to the United States and respond to Swedish 
requests for information on that process.  End summary. 
 
¶3. (C//NF)  On Tuesday December 11, 2007, the Ambassador, 
POL/ECON Chief, and RSO met with the Swedish Charge d'Affairs 
AnnLis Aberg and her visiting colleague Kaarlo Laasko, Deputy 
Chief of Mission, Swedish Embassy Bangkok, to discuss the 
presence of two North Korean men who entered the Swedish 
Embassy last week (reftel) and who had requested Swedish 
assistance in emigrating to the United States. 
 
¶4. (C//NF) The Swedish diplomats provided new information 
about ongoing Swedish assistance to two 
North Korean citizens who have requested assistance to 
relocate to the United States.  The two men, Kim Jung-yoon 
(DOB 08/15/1978) and Han Chang-Il (DOB 07/27/83), entered the 
Swedish Embassy compound through the front gate on Friday 
December 2, 2007, at 0900.  Local guards employed by the 
Swedes permitted the two North Koreans to pass directly to 
the reception area where they presented a note to the 
receptionist stating that they were from North Korea and that 
they wanted to go to the United States.  Swedish Embassy 
officers immediately attempted to verify their bona fides, 
calling on the assistance of the nearby South Korean Embassy 
which provided translation services.  (Note: the local guard 
company involved, known to be owned at least in part by the 
Lao Government, informed police officials at once.) 
 
Biographical Information 
------------------------ 
¶5. (C//NF) Through separate interviews lasting more than two 
hours each, the Swedes learned that the two men had traveled 
from North Korea through China and had entered northern Laos 
December 2 or 3 before heading to Vientiane.  The men 
indicated that they had been assisted in their journey by Hee 
Tae Kim, who is described as a coordinator for the 
Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Human Rights And Mission. 
 One of the North Korean men provided the Swedes with a 
business card for Mr. Kim which contained a Bangkok address 
(Rama III SV City 8 Tower #2004) and telephone numbers in 
Thailand (66 085-225-4894), Laos (856-020-500-2008) and Korea 
(82 010-5577-1818) as well as an internet address: 
flowerswallow@hanmail.net. 
 
¶6. (C//NF) During these interviews, Mr. Han claimed that, 
upon arrival in Vientiane, he scouted several Embassies to 
identify which allowed for the easiest entrance.  Mr. Han 
claimed that, while walking by 
the Swedish Embassy, he noticed people entering and exiting 
with minimal security controls.  He further stated that he 
specifically did not want to go to the South Korean Embassy 
as he wished to go to the United States and feared that the 
South Koreans would assist him only to go to South Korea. 
Mr. Han revealed that he had left North Korea some time 
around 2000 and had been living in Northern China near the 
North Korean border and had been involved in the internet 
business.  Mr. Han also revealed during the interview that he 
had previously been caught by the Chinese and sent back to a 
labor camp in North Korea and ultimately made his way back to 
China in 2003. Mr. Han stated that he spoke Korean, some 
Chinese and rudimentary English. 
 
¶7.  (C//NF) During interviews with Mr. Kim, the Swedes 
learned that he had left North Korea during autumn 2007 after 
having served as a soldier for more than ten years. In China, 
he had worked at restaurants. Both men claimed that they had 
only been paired together by the NGO since crossing the 
border from China into Laos and that they had not previously 
been acquainted. 
 
¶8. (C//NF) The Swedes told the Ambassador that 
 
representatives from the Human Rights And Mission NGO may 
have stayed to witness to the North Korean men's entry to the 
Swedish compound.  After successfully explaining their 
situation to the Swedes, the North Korean men initiated a 
telephone call to one of the numbers listed on the business 
card and apparently confirmed that they were receiving the 
assistance of the Swedish Embassy. 
 
South Korean Assistance 
----------------------- 
¶9. (C//NF) The Swedes have maintained an active dialogue with 
the South Korean Embassy which has provided translation 
assistance as well as reading materials for the men while 
they wait resolution to their situation.  The Swedes 
indicated that the South Koreans have offered to provide 
travel letters for the men to allow them to travel from Laos. 
 The South Koreans also indicated their preliminary belief 
that the men were North Korean as they spoke with North 
Korean accents and their stories about their lives in North 
Korea seemed credible. 
 
¶10. (C//NF) The South Koreans have told the Swedes that if 
the men state a willingness and desire to emigrate to South 
Korea, the South Koreans are in a position to facilitate that 
through their own methods and to do so in fairly short order. 
 The South Koreans intimated to the Swedes that they 
have developed a discreet understanding with key members in 
the Lao Government that allows for the expedited removal of 
North Koreans to South Korea.  However, so long as these men 
insist on relocation to the United States, the Swedes have 
been told by the South Koreans that they cannot enter them 
into their system which is predicated on the ROK as the 
desired destination. 
 
Swedish Request for Assistance 
------------------------------ 
¶11. (C//NF) ACTION REQUEST: In order to move the process 
closer to a resolution, the Swedes would like to develop a 
list of options to present to the North Korean men.  The 
Swedes have requested that we describe for them the process 
for North Koreans to be relocated to the United States. 
Please advise also if Washington wishes the Swedes to present 
this option or not.  Clearly the most effective option would 
be for the North Koreans to reach the conclusion that their 
best course is to seek asylum in the ROK. 
 
¶12. (C//NF) The South Koreans have indicated that their 
mechanism for removal involves departure from Vientiane, 
international transit through the Bangkok airport, and 
immediate onward air travel to Seoul.  This route avoids 
involvement of Thai authorities and provides an expedited 
routing.  As the men have insisted on relocating to the 
United States and not/not South Korea, post would like to 
know if there is a mechanism to allow for onward movement to 
the United States if they have to travel first to South Korea. 
 
¶13. (C//NF) The Swedes have stated that they recognize the 
impediment posed to this process if the Lao were to be made 
aware of U.S. involvement in this case.  As such, they have 
specifically stated that they will keep all knowledge of 
their contacts with the Embassy confidential. 
 
¶14. (C//NF) ACTION REQUEST: Please respond NLT COB Washington 
time if possible with a blueprint of how North Koreans might 
be able to get from Vientiane to the United States.  The 
Swedes would only share that information with the North 
Korean asylum seekers with our permission. 
HUSO