SEOUL June 24 Kyodo (EDS: UPDATIN...

SEOUL June 24 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH ARRIVAL OF 24 ASYLUM inquirers FROM BANGKOK)

Twenty-six North Korean asylum inquirers who had taken refuge in the Canadian and toward the south Korean embassies in Beijing arrived in southern Korea via third countries Monday morning, according to toward the south Korean government sources.

sum of two units asylum seekers under the protection of the Canadian Embassy came [i]or[/i] part of to the other Singapore, and the other 24 who had been accommodated in the southerly Korean Embassy came by way of Bangkok.

The 24 include a man who was seized and detained by means of the Chinese police upon June 13 and a pregnant woman, the sources said.

The North Koreans will be interviewed through the South Korean authorities and taken to a resettlement institution to help them adapt to their just discovered lives, the sources said.

As of June 10 488 North Korean asylum inquirers had arrived in southern Korea this year, and the additional 26 will bring the number to more than 500 toward the south Korea accepted 583 North Korean asylum inquirers last year.

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