The Yellow Sea lies between China and Korea. Map screenshot from OpenStreetMap
Kwon Pyong made a daring escape from China using a jet ski. Now, after being convicted of illegal entry by South Korea, he may be deported back to China. South Korea has a “low acceptance rate”, for asylum refugees, the AFP reports. If Korea allows it, he may be able to go to another country for asylum instead.
Given Seoul’s low acceptance rate, Kwon is also willing to seek refugee status in a third country such as Canada and the US, Lee said.
AFP . November 23, 2023. via FreeMalaysiaToday.com.
The New York Times describes the conditions of his 200-mile journey across the Yellow Sea:
He had set off from the Shandong Peninsula with a helmet, a life jacket, a telescope and a compass, according to the Coast Guard. He also had five containers of fuel, which he’d tied to the watercraft and used to keep the tank filled during the 14-hour journey, the Coast Guard said.
John Yoon. “Escape China by Jet Ski? A Dissident Is Said to have Planned It for Years”. The New York Times. August 24, 2023.
According to the above NYT article, Mr. Kwon wanted to escape Communist rule and become an entrepreneur. He had been a critic of the Chinazi regime who was imprisoned for his outspokenness:
Mr. Kwon disappeared into Chinese police custody in September 2016, soon after posting the photo of himself in the shirt that likened Mr. Xi to Hitler. “Let’s work together and topple this invisible wall,” Mr. Kwon wrote in that post. In his Twitter profile, he described himself as a “perpetual student, citizen, dedicated to overturning communism.”
