Beijing, Sept 05: A North Korean citizen, allegedly an expert on biological weapons, tried today to enter an Australian Consulate in China but was detained by local security agents, a German supporter of North Korean refugees said. The man, identified as Ri Chae Woo, attempted to enter the Australian Consulate General in Guangzhou dressed up in the uniform of maintenance staff, Norbert Vollertsen, a prominent activist, said in a statement.

He was apprehended in the fire escape stairwell of the high-rise building housing the consulate, while his family managed to escape, Vollertsen said. Ri's apparent asylum attempt, happening three months after he entered china with his wife and two children, was described by Vollertsen as part of an effort of "getting North Korean military experts to testify in the us."

According to the activist, Ri carried "a large volume of evidence of human experiments which have helped develop the chemical (and) biological weapons program of North Korea." The experiments were carried out in "a secret clinic dug into the mountains," Vollertsen said.

A spokesman at the Australian Embassy in Beijing said his colleagues in Guangzhou were not able to confirm the report.

Bureau Report