The Voice of America(VOA) said on Tuesday that Washington is urging all nations to cooperate on the protection of North Korean refugees and asylum seekers in their territories.
 
The U.S. State Department spokeswoman for East Asia and the Pacific, Katina Adams, relayed the U.S. government’s stance in a telephone interview with VOA, regarding China’s dismissal of the UN’s request to suspend its forcible repatriation of North Korean defectors.
 
Adams told VOA that the U.S. is deeply concerned about the treatment of North Korean defectors, stressing that it is continuously cooperating with the UN Human Rights Council(UNHRC) and others to come up with a long-term solution for their protection.
 
In a regular media briefing on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang dismissed the UNHRC’s calls for stopping the deportation of North Korean defectors, repeating China’s position that North Korean defectors are not refugees.