South Korea’s Foreign Ministry is urgently calling on China to stop repatriating North Korean defectors but it is technically up to China to decide the issue, a South Korean envoy to Beijing said.

A senior official at the ministry on Sunday told reporters that Seoul will renew calls on China to abide by two international treaties ― the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

“Whether to recognize North Korean defectors as refugees or not is China’s own right. It is up to China whether to ‘feel’ the pressure of the international community and handle it accordingly,” said Lee Kyu-hyung, South Korean ambassador to China.

According to South Korean human rights groups and activists, China could repatriate 33 North Korean defectors by Feb. 20 who, if returned, are likely to face harsh punishment such as detention, torture or execution.

Especially as North Korea is under the new leadership of Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang is strongly warning of a “three-generation wipe-out” of any family with a North Korean caught defecting.

The Chinese government has neither provided accurate information about the detained North Korean defectors nor decided whether to deport them to North Korea or to send them to South Korea.

“China says it will handle the issue after considering all three aspects ― the local law, the international law and the humanitarian perspective, while South Korea sees it from a humanitarian perspective,” Lee said.

“South Korea and China have different perspectives on this issue.”

China deems North Korean defectors as illegal migrants.

Lee made it clear that the issue of North Korean defectors will not become a tool when negotiating other diplomatic affairs with Beijing,such as illegal Chinese fishing in South Korean waters.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)