Foreign Ministry Spokesperson on the Handling of Illegal Entries into the Visa Office of the South Korean Embassy（23/06/2002）
Since May 23, over 20 unidentified people have successively entered the Visa Office of the South Korean Embassy in China. Chinese and South Korean diplomatic authorities have held many rounds of negotiations on the handling of the issue. During the consultation, the South Korean side has regretted the incident out of the gate of the Visa Office of the South Korean Embassy, and the Chinese side has regretted the relevant developments of the event. The South Korean side said that it fully understood and respected China’s position that foreign diplomatic agencies in China shall not become the channel for illegal entries. On such basis, China is going to verify the status of the above-mentioned 20 or so people handed over by South Korea. After determining that these people are aliens without major criminal records in China, the Chinese side will permit their exit in line with the international law, China’s domestic laws and in a humanitarian spirit.
