The father of a Chinese political activist who is being held in South Korea stated that his son will face death if he is extradited to China. He escaped from China on a jetski in August, risking his life in the process.
On Thursday, a South Korean court will make a decision regarding the case of Kwon Pyong, who has been accused of breaking the immigration control act. Kwon, aged 35, admitted guilt and asked for a more forgiving punishment, while prosecutors are seeking a sentence of two and a half years, which is considered to be harsh by experts.
In the first public comments by Kwon’s family, his father, Quan He, told the Guardian his son was “a young person and he desires freedom. I really hope that the Korean government can give him a way to live.”
Kwon has been in custody at Incheon detention center since he was found on the Korean coast on the evening of August 16th. Being a dissident who was previously imprisoned in China for speaking against Xi Jinping, the leader of China, his situation could potentially worsen the already tense relationship between Beijing and Seoul.
Kwon had jetskied for 16 hours across the 186 miles (300km) of treacherous waves between his official home and his ancestral one.
In 1988, in China’s Jilin province, Kwon Pyong was born to parents of Korean descent. As he grew older, he chose to go by his Korean name, Kwon, instead of his father’s Chinese name, Quan.
Quan’s son was depicted as a person of integrity and authenticity who, upon returning from studying in the US, began openly questioning the single-party dominance of the Chinese Communist Party.
Kwon studied aerospace engineering at Iowa State University, graduating in 2012. There, as well as learning about flight mechanics and wind propulsion, he marvelled on his personal blog at the democratic election of Barack Obama as president.
When Kwon came back to China, his father mentioned that he had many grievances about the Chinese government. In October 2016, he encountered trouble with the authorities for the first time when he shared a picture of himself on X (formerly Twitter) wearing a shirt that had “#Xitler” and other offensive terms for Xi written on it.
Kwon’s father reported that his son was jailed for “encouraging rebellion” and upon his release in 2018, the authorities monitored him constantly, hindering his ability to find employment or start anew.
He stated that his son was also subjected to a travel restriction, preventing him from leaving the country. The son had previously lived abroad and desired to return to a nation with greater liberties.
During a preliminary hearing in the previous month, Kwon stated in court, “I did not unlawfully enter Korea with the intention of damaging buildings or breaking the law. Following my conviction in China, I was unable to live with freedom and exit the country as I would have liked.”
Kwon successfully obtained a tourist visa for South Korea last year. However, due to an exit ban preventing him from leaving China through its airports, he opted to travel by jetski.
The Kwon family learned of Kwon’s plan when a relative received a call from the Incheon coastguard on the evening of August 16th.
Quan, who has visited his son in prison, shared that before [Kwon] began his journey, he conducted extensive research on the internet. He discovered that in Europe, individuals can legally enter the country using this method. However, when he searched for information about Korea, he was unable to find much. He assumed that as a democratic country, he would be accepted and that if he were to be arrested, he could simply claim to be a refugee.
In the last two decades, South Korea has been a member of the UN’s refugee convention, but it has only allowed less than 4,000 refugees to enter the country. The majority of these refugees come from Yemen and Syria. From 2017 to 2021, there were 5,225 Chinese nationals who applied for asylum in South Korea, but only three were granted. According to Pillkyu Hwang, the director of GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation in Seoul, South Korea is hesitant to accept Chinese asylum seekers.
In addition to the strict refugee policies in South Korea, there is tension in the relationship between Seoul and Beijing. There are concerns that Kwon may be facing excessive punishment due to his status in China.
According to Christoph Bluth, a professor of international relations at the University of Bradford and an expert on Korean human rights, the two and a half year sentence was unusually harsh. Typically, illegal immigrants are fined and deported instead.
Bluth stated that this particular situation was “politically delicate” and that the government would take into account the potential effects on their relationship with China.
According to Daeseon Lee, a human rights advocate from South Korea and a close friend of Kwon, South Korea may face criticism from other countries if it refuses to accept political refugees from China, citing its close ties with the Chinese government.
The Chinese embassy in Seoul did not respond to requests for comment. The justice department of South Korea has been asked for a statement.
It is uncertain whether Kwon could also be extradited to China in addition to serving a prison sentence in South Korea.
According to his supporters, that is his biggest fear. A family member who saw him on a regular basis stated that Kwon had a dream where he was apprehended by a Chinese vessel while at sea.
The statement was made that he put his life at risk to make it to Korea. If Korea does not wish to keep him, it is acceptable for a different country to provide him a new home, as long as he can thrive there.
His father stated, “It would be fatal if he were to return [to China].”
Further investigation conducted by Chi Hui Lin
Source: theguardian.com
