3 North Korean defectors leave Thailand for asylum in US

Three North Koreans defectors left Thailand for the United States early Monday, becoming the latest refugees accepted by Washington under a 2004 law, officials said.

A South Korean activist said the three were among 29 North Korean refugees who launched a hunger strike in a Bangkok detention center last week to press their demand for asylum in the United States.

The Rev. Chun Ki-won, head of Seoul-based missionary group Durihana Mission, identified the three as cancer patient Lee Jong Gum, 36, her husband and their 11-year-old son. He didn't give any further details.

Police Lt. Gen. Chutchawal Sukomchit, head of Thailand's immigration division, confirmed that three North Koreans had left for the United States.

U.S. officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

In recent years, thousands of North Koreans facing hunger and repression at home have made the long and risky journey across China to Southeast Asia and many seek eventual asylum in South Korea.

But some refugees hope to go to America. Washington began accepting North Koreans under a 2004 act that mandates assistance to refugees fleeing the communist regime.

Chun said the latest refugees took to 47 the number of North Koreans accepted into the United States since 2004 when President George W. Bush signed the act.

Chun said 15 of the hunger striking refugees were being held in a Thai immigration detention facility, while the other 11 have been housed elsewhere in Thailand with the help of South Korean missionaries and the U.S. government.

Ri Ryong, the leader of the North Korean refugees, told the AP by telephone from the Thai immigration detention facility in Bangkok that one North Korean man identified as Kim Jin, 28, collapsed during the hunger strike after complaining of chest pain but was unable to get medical treatment due to a holiday in Thailand.

Ri said the other hunger striking refugees could also "collapse in coming days."

Chutchawal denied that any hunger strike or mistreatment had occurred.

"I strongly deny that any North Koreans collapsed during a hunger strike. Everyone is healthy and eating and drinking as usual," he said, accusing the defectors of concocting the hunger strike to draw attention.

"Officials are closely looking after everyone, even on holidays," Chutchawal.