To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 6 November (HL2882), whether they consider as South Korean citizens North Korean asylum seekers who do not express the intention to receive protection or citizenship from the Republic of Korea under the North Korean Refugees Protection and Settlement Support Act.
Answered on
25 November 2015
The Constitution of Republic of Korea (South Korea) stipulates that all North Koreans are citizens of the Republic of Korea.
As citizens of South Korea, North Korean asylum seekers are able to seek the protection of the South Korean authorities. A person who simply expresses an unwillingness to avail themselves of such protection would not bring them within the scope of the UN Refugee Convention.