A civic group, Democracy Network Against the North...

A civic group, Democracy Network Against the North Korean Gulag, submitted a petition to the Canadian Embassy in Seoul, requesting that the Canadian government grant political refugee status to Ri Song-dae, 36, a former North Korean diplomat. He fled to Canada while working as trade officer in the North Korean Embassy in Beijing. In the petition, the civic group said, 'If Mr. Ri is sent back to North Korea, he will most definitely be publicly executed or spend the rest of his life in a political prison. We hope that the Canadian government will protect Ri for humanitarian reasons.'