“It is likely that Korea is becoming an intermediate stopover as more people attempt to escape Russia,"
Groups of Russians have sailed to
South Korea in an attempt to avoid being conscripted for the war in Ukraine — only
for most of them to be refused entry at the border.
Korean Coast Guard records show a
total of five boats carrying 23 people have reached the country since Russian
President Vladimir Putin announced the “partial mobilization" of military
reservists last month after suffering military and territorial losses in
Ukraine.
After Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu
said 300,000 reservists would be called up, Russian men of fighting age have
scrambled to leave the country to avoid the draft, with thousands pouring into
neighboring countries such as Georgia, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan, as well as places
farther afield like Turkey.
Car traffic brought border crossings
to a standstill and some flights were sold out, but now it seems some Russians
are taking even more extreme measures to avoid conscription.
A Ho-young, a lawmaker with South
Korea's opposition Democratic Party, told NBC News by phone Thursday that all
23 Russian nationals had applied for tourist visas.
But
he said 21 were denied approval on the basis of “insufficient documentation and
unclear objective" for entering South Korea.
The
two successful applicants had documents showing records of having previously
been in South Korea.
“It
is likely that Korea is becoming an intermediate stopover as more people
attempt to escape Russia,” An said, adding it was “urgent” for the government
to come up with measures to handle a potential influx of men fleeing
mobilization, “such as dedicated procedures for handling what could turn into a
diplomatic and human rights issue.”
Russian
nationals are allowed visa-free entry to South Korea, but permission to enter
the country can be denied by immigration officials, he said.
Another
boat, a 17-ton yacht carrying 10 Russian nationals, entered Korean waters but
did not dock in the country.
This article was originally published on msn.com