Refugee couple reaches South Korea

Japan and China are still debating a larger group's fate

A North Korean couple who sought refuge in the Canadian embassy in Beijing have arrived in South Korea, but the fate of five other refugees taken from a Japanese consulate remains unclear.

The couple, who said they were married and in their late 20s, brought the number of North Koreans given asylum after entering foreign diplomatic property in China to 33 since March.

Recent North Korean asylum seekers

Three men sought refuge in US consulate in Shenyang, now in South Korea

Five people removed from Japan's Shenyang consulate, still in China

Two people sought refuge in Canada's Beijing embassy, now in South Korea

"I can't find words to describe my happy feeling," said the man after arriving in Seoul from Singapore, as his wife stood by smiling.

But China and Japan have still not reached agreement over five North Koreans who entered Japan's consulate in the north-eastern Chinese city of Shenyang last week, before Chinese police evicted them.

Diplomats from both countries have denied media reports that the five would also be allowed to travel to South Korea via a third country.

On Thursday, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said negotiations were continuing over the five.

"We are putting our best efforts toward a swift resolution," he told reporters.

Japan has called on China to hand the North Koreans back and apologise, though Beijing has so far refused both demands.

Conflicting stories

There has been an angry war of words between the two countries over their disputed version of events and whether the Chinese police were given permission to enter the consulate, as China claims.

Two of the asylum seekers earlier given safe passage

The BBC's correspondent in Tokyo, Charles Scanlon, says the row has frayed already difficult relations between China and Japan.

Japan says Chinese police broke diplomatic conventions when they entered the Japanese compound to seize the asylum seekers.

But China insists its police had permission - and that a Japanese official did nothing to stop them, and even thanked them.

Japan denies this and has repeatedly demanded that China hand the five back.

The incident triggered widespread concern in Japan after television pictures showed the asylum seekers, including a screaming toddler, being dragged from the compound.

Security concern

China has become increasingly worried about North Koreans seeking asylum through foreign offices in China.

In 2001 a North Korean family walked into the United Nations refugee agency in Beijing demanding asylum, and in March 2002, 25 North Koreans entered the Spanish embassy in Beijing, successfully demanding political asylum in South Korea.

Embassy compounds in China have since been ringed with barbed-wire and surrounded by armed guards, some even wielding baseball bats.

Beijing, a traditional ally of North Korea, regards the tens of thousands of impoverished North Koreans living in China as economic migrants who must be sent home.

But in recent cases, the asylum seekers were allowed to go to South Korea, perhaps prompting other groups to try similar tactics.