by STEVE HAN
Four North Korean defectors are now seeking asylum in the U.S., Voice of America reports.
The refugees arrived in the U.S. via Thailand last month, according to Cheol Park, president of the Association of the Free North Korean American, who spoke to the VOA Korean service.
Their arrival doubles the total of North Koreans who arrived in the U.S. as refugees this year to eight, according to the U.S. Department of State’s monthly Refugee Admissions Report.
Because of the 2004 North Korean Human Rights Act, North Korean defectors are granted permanent residency in the U.S. after a year, said the VOA report. They can also apply for citizenship after five years. However, those who settle first in South Korea aren’t eligible for refugee status in the U.S.
Most defectors from the North seek residency in South Korea, which provides them automatic citizenship, though many have complained of discrimination and hardship in adjusting to life in the South.
KoreAm Journal told the story of North Korean American Danny Lee in July of last year.
Danny Lee, photographed in Redondo Beach, Calif. Photo by Kyusung Gong
“I only get to live one time,” Lee told KoreAm at the time. “Escaping North Korea was a life-threatening risk I decided to take, and I figured I might as well take the biggest risk possible by choosing to come to the U.S. I knew coming here would give me the chance to learn a new language and culture. I also liked that I could live in a racially diverse environment.”
Lee became a U.S. citizen in 2012.
