July 1 (Bloomberg) -- Chinese authorities are intensifying the search for North Korean defectors hiding in the country, offering as much as triple the usual reward for information that leads to their capture, defectors said.

``In some regions, they're offering as much as 10,000 yuan ($1,457),'' said Han Chang Kweon, chairman of the Association of North Korean Defectors Organization in an interview in Seoul, South Korea's capital. ``It used to be around 3,000 yuan.''

Han, who escaped North Korea in 1992, said he is in touch with some of the estimated 300,000 North Korean defectors in China. North Koreans usually cross the 1,700-kilometer border with China and hide out before attempting to get to South Korea.

China's government does not recognize them as refugees and, under an agreement with Kim Jong Il's regime, sends them back to North Korea to face political ``re-education'' at prison camps or the firing squad, defectors say. China is trying to reduce the number of refugees in the country ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, defectors say.

Repeated calls to the Chinese Embassy in Seoul to enquire about the country's policy on North Korean defectors were not answered. China's foreign ministry in Beijing declined to respond to faxed questions. South Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae Young declined to comment.

``China wants to hide their human rights problems before they hold their international event,'' said Tim Peters, head of Helping Hands Korea, a human rights group for North Korean refugees, based in Seoul. ``China cannot be given a free pass in its human-rights abuses.''

Escaping

The United Nations Human Rights Council and other groups have asked China to recognize North Koreans as refugees. North Koreans typically flee the country to escape hunger and political persecution. More than 1 million people died in the north in the late 1990s because of famine caused by drought and economic mismanagement.

North Koreans trying to escape the country can't cross directly into South Korea because the border is separated by a landmine-strewn demilitarized zone, where 1.7 million troops, including 28,500 U.S. soldiers, face off. North Korea and South Korea are technically still at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended without a peace agreement.

The Kim Jong Il regime last week submitted an inventory of nuclear plants and materials as required under its disarmament accord with the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia and Japan.

In return, U.S. President George W. Bush lifted sanctions under the Trading with the Enemy Act and notified Congress that he plans to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism within 45 days.

Han and 60 other activists working to help North Korean refugees will visit Europe June 30-July 14 to seek support from European governments.

For related news: For news on North Korea and food: TNI NKOREA FOD <GO> For general news in Asia: TNI ASIA GEN <GO>

Last Updated: June 30, 2008 18:58 EDT