Suspected North Korea asylum seekers enter Beijing school

BEIJING - Eight people thought to be North Koreans stormed into a Japanese language school in Beijing on Wednesday, Japanese embassy officials said.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing unnamed officials, said the eight, including a two-year-old boy, were apparently seeking political asylum and wanted to go to South Korea.

A spokeswoman for the Japanese Embassy in Beijing said the break-in by six women, a man and the boy occurred at 4.30am local time.

"We are still investigating if they are North Koreans or not," she said.

A second Japanese official said the eight had been taken to the Japanese Embassy. He did not elaborate on what would happen to them.

Chinese officials were not immediately available for comment.

Yonhap said the group used a ladder to climb over a wire fence, setting off an alarm when they entered the school.

The agency said that while the school was not considered to be diplomatic territory, Chinese officials have allowed some North Koreans who took refuge there in the past to travel to South Korea via a third country.

As many as 300,000 North Koreans are believed to be hiding in China, human rights groups have said. South Korea has worked behind the scenes to press China to allow North Koreans to travel to the South.

China is North Korea's sole remaining major ally and often sends North Koreans, who China regards as illegal immigrants and not as refugees, back to their country.

- REUTERS