East-Asia-Intel.com, March 14, 2012

A group of 50 North Korean orphans have fled the famine-stricken country and have been hiding in China, hoping to reach South Korea.

The children, from an orphanage in the northeastern border city of Hyesan, crossed into China on Feb. 29 to escape the famine and harsh living conditions there, said Rep. Park Sun-Young, a member of the conservative opposition Liberty Forward Party. “Fortunately, I haven’t heard that they were caught,” she added.

Park is leading a high-profile campaign to rescue asylum-seekers stranded in China.

The plight of North Korean orphans was popularized in a new novel about North Korea, “Orphan Master’s Son,” by Adam Johnson and published in the U.S. by Random House.

Read complete article.