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North Korean Defectors In Thailand
Thailand has become one of the destinations of choice for North Korean defectors aiming to either resettle in third countries, or pass in transit to South Korea. Although the Royal Thai Government does not recognize North Korean escapees as refugees, but rather as illegal economic migrants, the Thai government allows North Koreans illegally entering the country to resettle in South Korea. This is possible because South Korea’s domestic law recognizes that North Koreans are also citizens of South Korea. The Thai government also cites the "conveniently blurred geographical distinctions" between the two Koreas in facilitating the transfer and resettlement process. Migration trend Despite its long distance from North Korea to Thailand, this escaping route has become significantly more popular for North Korean defectors between 2004 and 2011. The number of North Koreans who escaped through Thailand in 2004 was 46. The figure increased to 752 in 2005, 1,785 in 2007, 1,849 in 2009, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the extremity of Myanmar. Thailand also shares maritime borders with Vietnam to the southeast, and Indonesia and India to the southwest. Bangkok is the nation's capital and largest city. Tai peoples migrated from southwestern China to mainland Southeast Asia from the 11th century. Indianised kingdoms such as the Mon, Khmer Empire and Malay states ruled the region, competing with Thai states such as the Kingdoms of Ngoenyang, Sukhothai, Lan Na and Ayutthaya, which also rivalled each other. European contact began in 1511 with a Portuguese diplomatic mission to Ayutthaya, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2006 Thai Coup D'état
The 2006 Thai ''coup d'état'' took place on 19 September 2006, when the Royal Thai Army staged a ''coup d'état'' against the elected caretaker government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The ''coup d'état'', which was Thailand's first non-constitutional change of government in fifteen years since the 1991 Thai coup d'état, followed a year-long political crisis involving Thaksin, his allies, and political opponents and occurred less than a month before nationwide House elections were scheduled to be held. It has been widely reported in Thailand and elsewhere that General Prem Tinsulanonda, key person in military-monarchy nexus, Chairman of the Privy Council, was the mastermind of the coup. The military cancelled the scheduled 15 October elections, abrogated the 1997 constitution, dissolved parliament and constitutional court, banned protests and all political activities, suppressed and censored the media, declared martial law nationwide, and arrested cabinet members. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thailand–United States Relations
Bilateral relations between the Thailand, Kingdom of Thailand and the United States, United States of America date back to 1818. Thailand and the United States have long been close allies and diplomatic partners. According to a 2012 Gallup (company), Gallup public opinion poll, 60% of Thai people, Thais approved of U.S. leadership under the Obama Administration, with 14% disapproving and 26% uncertain. As of 2013, there were 7314 international students of Thai origin studying in the United States, representing 0.9 percent of all foreigners pursuing higher education in America. According to a 2014 Global Opinion Poll, 73% of Thais have a favorable view of the U.S, compared to 15% unfavorable. History 19th century The first recorded contact between Thailand (then known as Siam) and the United States came in 1818, when an American ship captain visited the country, bearing a letter from U.S. President James Monroe. Chang and Eng Bunker immigrated in the early 1830s. In 1832, Preside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Korea–Thailand Relations
South Korea–Thailand relations are the bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Republic of Korea. The two countries established diplomatic relations on 1 October 1958. During the Korean War, Thailand was the second nation to send troops—a total of over 10,000—to support South Korea, just after the United States. Thai casualties included 137 dead and more than 300 wounded. The Industry Ministry reported that Thailand and South Korea had trade value of US$11.7 billion in 2017. , 400 South Korean companies have invested in Thailand, and trade between Thailand and South Korea stands at around US$15 billion (470 billion baht) annually. Cultural relations Since 2015, Korean pop groups and television dramas have surged in popularity in Thailand, to the extent that a phrase, " Korean wave" th, กระแสเกาหลี; ) has been coined to explain the phenomenon. K-pop in particular has influenced Thai food, fashion, and interest in cosmetic surgery. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hanawon
The Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees (), commonly known as Hanawon (하나원, "House of Unity"), is a South Korean facility for the “training for social adaptation” of North Korean defectors, preparing them for life in the South. Three months' stay in this facility is mandatory for all North Koreans arriving in the south, with residents unable to leave of their own free will. History Hanawon opened on 8 July 1999, and is located about an hour south of Seoul in the countryside of Anseong, Gyeonggi Province. In her book '' Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea'', journalist Barbara Demick describes Hanawon as a cross between a trade school and a halfway house, and describes its purpose as teaching North Koreans how to live on their own in South Korea. Originally built to accommodate around 200 people for a three-month resettlement program, in 2002 the facility's capacity was doubled to 400. In 2004, to mark the fifth anniversary of the program, a se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daniel Pinkston
Daniel Pinkston is North East Asia Deputy Project Director with the International Crisis Group in Seoul. He was Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Project at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California, and has been Associate editor of ''The Nonproliferation Review'' since 2004. Education Pinkston has a master's degree in Korean studies from Yonsei University and a PhD in international affairs from the University of California, San Diego. Publications * Pinkston, Daniel A. (2003). "Domestic politics and stakeholders in the North Korean missile development program." ''The Nonproliferation Review''. 10(2), 51—65. *Chapters in ''Engagement with North Korea'' (Hiroshima Peace Institute; Hiroshima), ''The Evolving U.S.-Japan Alliance: Balancing Soft and Hard Power'', ''A Turning Point: Democratic Consolidation in the ROK and Strategic Readjustment in the US-ROK Alliance'' (Honolulu, 2005) See also *North Korea and weapons of mass destruction *Foreign r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Korean Refugees
Since the division of Korea after the end of World War II, North Koreans have fled from the country in spite of legal punishment for political, ideological, religious, economic, moral, personal, or nutritional reasons. Such North Koreans are referred to as North Korean defectors by the North Korean regime. Alternative terms in South Korea, where the defectors often end up, include "northern refugees" ( ko, 탈북자, ''talbukja'' or , ''talbukmin'') and "new settlers" (, ''saeteomin''). During the North Korean famine of the 1990s, there was an increase in defections, reaching a peak in 1998 and 1999. Some of the main reasons for the falling number of defectors, especially since 2000, are the strict border patrols and inspections, forced deportations, and the rising cost of defection. The most common strategy of North Korean defectors is to cross the Chinese border into Jilin and Liaoning provinces in northeast China. About 76% to 84% of defectors interviewed in China or South ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UNHCR
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with over 17,300 staff working in 135 countries. Background UNHCR was created in 1950 to address the refugee crisis that resulted from World War II. The 1951 Refugee Convention established the scope and legal framework of the agency's work, which initially focused on Europeans uprooted by the war. Beginning in the late 1950s, displacement caused by other conflicts, from the Hungarian Uprising to the decolonization of Africa and Asia, broadened the scope of UNHCR's operations. Commensurate with the 1967 Protocol to the Refugee Convention, which expanded the geographic and temporal scope of refugee assistance, UNHCR operated across the world, with the bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mekong River
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annually. From the Tibetan Plateau the river runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls in the Mekong make navigation difficult. Even so, the river is a major trade route between western China and Southeast Asia. Names The Mekong was originally called ''Mae Nam Khong'' from a contracted form of Tai shortened to ''Mae Khong''. In Thai and Lao, ''Mae Nam'' ("Mother of Water ) is used for large rivers and ''Khong'' is the proper name referred to as "River Khong". However, ''Khong'' is an archaic word meaning "river", loaned from Austroasiatic languages, such as Vietnamese ''sông'' (from *''krong'') and Mon ''kruŋ'' "river", which led to Chin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Korean Defectors
Since the division of Korea after the end of World War II, North Koreans have fled from the country in spite of legal punishment for political, ideological, religious, economic, moral, personal, or nutritional reasons. Such North Koreans are referred to as North Korean defectors by the North Korean regime. Alternative terms in South Korea, where the defectors often end up, include "northern refugees" ( ko, 탈북자, ''talbukja'' or , ''talbukmin'') and "new settlers" (, ''saeteomin''). During the North Korean famine of the 1990s, there was an increase in defections, reaching a peak in 1998 and 1999. Some of the main reasons for the falling number of defectors, especially since 2000, are the strict border patrols and inspections, forced deportations, and the rising cost of defection. The most common strategy of North Korean defectors is to cross the Chinese border into Jilin and Liaoning provinces in northeast China. About 76% to 84% of defectors interviewed in China or Sout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist state and the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. At the heart of the Indochinese Peninsula, Laos is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. Its capital and largest city is Vientiane. Present-day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to Lan Xang, which existed from the 14th century to the 18th century as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Because of its central geographical location in Southeast Asia, the kingdom became a hub for overland trade and became wealthy economically and culturally. After a period of internal conflict, Lan Xang broke into three separate kingdoms: Luang Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, John Wells explains, the English spellings of both Myanmar and Burma assume a non-rhotic variety of English, in which the letter r before a consonant or finally serves merely to indicate a long vowel: [ˈmjænmɑː, ˈbɜːmə]. So the pronunciation of the last syllable of Myanmar as [mɑːr] or of Burma as [bɜːrmə] by some speakers in the UK and most speakers in North America is in fact a spelling pronunciation based on a misunderstanding of non-rhotic spelling conventions. The final ''r'' in ''Myanmar'' was not intended for pronunciation and is there to ensure that the final a is pronounced with the broad a, broad ''ah'' () in "father". If the Burmese name my, မြန်မာ, label=none were spelled "Myanma" in English, this would b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
