Illegal entrants are economic migrants

BEIJING - Citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea illegally crossing the border with China are economic migrants rather than "refugees", the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

Lee Myung-bak, president of the Republic of Korea (ROK), said at a news conference in Seoul earlier in the day that China should act according to international norms in dealing with "refugees" from the DPRK.

But Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news conference that the illegal entrants crossed the border "due to economic reasons".