New U.N. rapporteur voices concerns over South Korea's repatriation of N. Korean fishermen in 2019

SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- The new U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights on Friday expressed concerns over South Korea's forced repatriation of two North Korean fishermen in 2019.

During a press conference in Seoul, Elizabeth Salmon also said the right to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets to the North could be limited if it threatens the "safety and security" of the region.

Salmon, a Peruvian professor of international law, arrived in Seoul last Saturday for an eight-day trip. It is her first trip to South Korea since assuming the post early last month as Tomas Ojea Quintana's successor.

On Nov. 7, 2019, the preceding Moon Jae-in administration repatriated the two North Koreans captured a week earlier near the eastern sea border, saying they had confessed to killing 16 fellow crew members. Critics have accused the Moon administration of hastily deporting the fishermen to curry favor with Pyongyang.

Salmon said the case is an issue of concern regardless of whoever made the decision to send them back and who the defectors are.

She promised to look further into the issue, stressing the need for Seoul to respect the international principle of non-refoulement for those who are likely to face punishment back in the North.

Salmon maintained a cautious stance on South Korean activists' anti-North Korea leaflet campaigns.

"In international human rights law, the peaceful expression of views is protected under human rights treaties but even if it is a protected right, it has some limitations and exceptions," she said.

Defector groups in South Korea have flown huge balloons carrying leaflets across the inter-Korean border claiming their right to send information into the reclusive North.

The previous government banned the leafleting to protect the lives and safety of residents living in the border areas as such leaflets could provoke the North to take bellicose action.

julesyi@yna.co.kr
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