North Korean asylum-seekers leave South Korean embassy

Описание: (6 Nov 2002)

1. South Korean consulate
2. South Korean diplomatic license plate on car
3. Chinese security at building
4. Two North Koreans walk from consulate into waiting van
5. Older woman walks out and into van
6. Younger woman come out of consulate
7. Close shot of woman walking into van and shot through van window
8. Video surveillance camera inside consulate
9. Wide three young women run into van from consulate
10. One woman runs to van
11. Wide of van and diplomatic car parked
12. Cutaway of driver in reflection of car window
13. South Korean official smoking and pointing to van as woman runs past
14. People in van pull curtains
15. South Korean official waving
16. Wide South Korean woman runs from van, turns and waves to those inside van
17. Van drives off with car behind driving off
18. Wide China Southern Airlines plane on airport tarmac
19. Passengers waiting to board plane
20. North Korean refugees boarding plane
21. Planes taxiing on runway
22. Plane with refugees taking off

STORYLINE:

About a dozen people believed to be North Korean asylum-seekers walked out of the South Korean consulate in the Chinese capital Beijing on Wednesday, apparently headed for Seoul via the Philippines.

The men and women left Beijing on a China Southern Airlines plane later on Wednesday.

Fifteen North Korean asylum-seekers were to transit in the Philippines for a few hours later on Wednesday before boarding a connecting flight to Seoul, according to a letter to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs from the South Korean Embassy in Seoul.

The note, seen by The Associated Press, listed 12 females and three males in the group, the youngest a 10-year-old boy and the oldest a 65-year-old woman.

Earlier on Wednesday, the men and women climbed into a minibus parked just outside the heavily guarded consulate in Beijing's leafy embassy district just before 1400 local time (0600 GMT).

The bus then turned onto the highway in the direction of Beijing's Capital Airport.

The South Korean embassy in Beijing wouldn't comment on the group's departure or how they gained access to the consulate.

This year, more than 100 North Koreans who sought refuge in foreign diplomatic missions and schools in China have been allowed to leave for Seoul after travelling in transit through a third point, usually Manila.

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