China criticises South Korea over North defectors

BEIJING (Reuters) - China criticised South Korea on Thursday over an attempt by four apparent North Korean defectors to seek refuge at an international school in Beijing, saying its diplomats obstructed police called to the scene.

The four defectors entered a South Korean-run school on Tuesday, hid on the premises and then were chased onto the roof by about 30 Chinese security personnel, the South's Yonhap news agency reported.

"At that time, South Korean consular officials disregarded international law and their own status and obstructed the Chinese police from doing their job," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news conference. "China expresses its dissatisfaction at this."

Yonhap said on Tuesday that security forces had scuffled with South Korean officials at the scene who protested at the detention of the four North Koreans.

China typically views asylum seekers from North Korea as economic refugees and often returns them to the North -- its diplomatic ally -- despite the fact they face imprisonment and even death for trying to defect.

If they succeed in reaching South Korean-related offices in third countries, North Koreans are usually given passage to the South, where they are granted citizenship.

Liu did not confirm the identities of the four as North Koreans, but said they were in police detention in China.

"To protect the safety of the students and the school's normal operations, the Chinese police sent officers to the scene," he said. "Related departments will deal with the issue properly and in accordance with the law."

China and North Korea share a 1,400-km (850-mile) border, and aid groups estimate there could be as many as tens of thousands North Koreans living illegally in China.

Beijing fears that granting asylum would encourage a potentially destabilising flood of refugees into its northeastern provinces.