| North Korean refugees may be trying out Russia as an escape route now that China is taking a harder line, a Seoul official said on Tuesday after a second asylum-seeker entered a consulate in Vladivostok. The Reuters news agency reports that Hwang Dae-soo, a North Korean who worked as a translator at a construction site in the Russian Far East, entered South Korea's consulate in Vladivostok and was seeking political asylum. The agency quoted South Korean activist Douglas Shin as reporting the news. Shin, who leads a group helping North Korean refugees, said Hwang was in the consulate building after first being refused entry by South Korean diplomats on Monday. China has been the most popular route by far for North Koreans fleeing the impoverished communist state. But it was possible Russia was being tested as an alternate route now that China was taking a harder line on North Korean refugees on its territory, a South Korean official said. |