Asylum Seekers to Be Sent to Third Country Friday Afternoon

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 15, 2002

Asylum Seekers to Be Sent to Third Country Friday Afternoon

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The 25 DPRK asylum seekers occupying the Spanish Embassy in Beijing since Thursday will be deported to a third country, possibly the Philippines, Friday afternoon, South Korean news agency Yonhap report says, quoting S. Korean government sources.

The 25 Asylum Seekers are likely to receive a physical examination right after arriving in the third country, a government source said, adding they are likely to arrive in Seoul, as early as Sunday morning.

AP: Asylum - Seekers Leave Beijing

A group of North Koreans who sought asylum in the Spanish Embassy left Beijing on Friday, shortly after Premier Zhu Rongji announced that China had reached an agreement on their status. Their destination was not immediately clear.

A South Korean official confirmed that the group was bound for another country.

A Chinese staffer in the embassy's commercial section confirmed the North Koreans had departed. Chinese security officers who had cordoned off the embassy relaxed visibly after the convoy departed. Police in blue uniforms shook each other's hands, and armed police in green uniforms applauded.

Reporters outside the Spanish Embassy saw a convoy of two sport-utility vehicles, a van and the ambassador's Mercedes limousine pull out and drive away. The van and SUVs were crowded with people, but their darkened windows kept reporters from seeing who the passengers were.

Telephone calls to the embassy on Friday were not answered.

China said Thursday that the asylum-seekers would be dealt with according to law -- both international and Chinese.

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