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Even at the risk of their lives, still they come.

Thirteen North Koreans sought refuge in a Korean school in Qingdao, China on Thursday and are asking South Korea for asylum. On Oct. 11, eight North Korean refugees entered the same school and were safely handed over to the South Korean consulate.

A Foreign Ministry official said 13 defectors — nine women and four men — entered the Qingdao Ewha International School at around 11:30 a.m. saying they wanted to go to South Korea. The official said Seoul was negotiating with Beijing to move them to the consulate and then on to South Korea.