Opening the Gates

The plight of North Koreans fleeing their destitute homeland has garnered some sympathy in America, but until last month it was tough for a North Korean to get political asylum there. Because the Korean War never formally ended—only an armistice was signed in 1953—Seoul and Washington have treated North Koreans as South Korean citizens, and that's where most refugees have ended up.

But on Oct. 18, under pressure from American human-rights activists and lawmakers, President George W. Bush signed a new law that says North Koreans are, well, North Koreans and eligible for asylum in the U.S. It also authorizes Bush to spend $80 million helping the estimated 100,000-plus refugees who have fled, mostly to China. News about the impending legislation spread in recent months. At least 140 asylum seekers have stormed embassies and foreign schools in Beijing since early September. "For North Korean defectors in China, America is the land of freedom and the most powerful country in the world," says Park Sang Hak, a Seoul-based refugee activist and former defector.

A recent crackdown by Beijing has made the asylum seekers' quest more difficult. Last week, Chinese guards used cattle prods on a group of 19 North Koreans trying to get into Beijing's South Korean embassy. The defectors, charged Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue, "are undermining China's social order and stability." Maybe so, but these days all they really want is a shot at the American Dream.