North Korea revives one child abroad policy-Yonhap

SEOUL, Mar 6 (Reuters) North Korea has revived a rule where its diplomats can only take one child with them on overseas assignments in order to lessen the risk of its citizens fleeing the impoverished state, Yonhap news agency reported today.

''It appears North Korea believes there is a greater chance of defection by these expatriates as they now have all of their family members overseas,'' Yonhap cited a source highly familiar with North Korea as saying.

North Korea relaxed its policy of only allowing one child to go overseas with a diplomatic family in 2002, it said.

Human rights groups say North Korea uses guilt by association and often imprisons the family members of those who it says have wronged the state in order to keep control over its citizens.

South Korea typically does not comment on defections of North Korean diplomats. A Unification Ministry official would not comment on the Yonhap report.

Separately, North Korea has increased the penalties for its citizens caught trying to flee the country in order to cut down on the number of defections from the state that battles chronic food shortages, Human Rights Watch said in a report.

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