Connect to share and comment  S. Korea to boost manpower at
diplomatic missions for N. Korean defectors   SEOUL, June 18
(Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to increase its manpower at its
overseas diplomatic missions and strengthen cooperation with
relevant countries to better protect North Korean defectors
believed to be hiding in those nations, the foreign ministry
said Tuesday.  The plan came after nine young North Korean
defectors were repatriated by Laos and China to their
totalitarian homeland late last month, prompting the ministry to
face criticism for failing in its duty to protect them and
provide enough diplomatic support to prevent them from being
sent to the North.  In a report to the National Assembly, the
ministry said it will "seek extensive cooperation with the
international community and set up a system of cooperation with
relevant countries tailored to their situations."  "The issue of
North Korean asylum seekers should be addressed in a broad
context of the universal value of human rights and s