51.   They have entered by climbing over walls or rushing past armed Chinese guards whose numbers have been increased in recent weeks to discourage further asylum bids.

52.   Vollertsen said the asylum bid Thursday was part of a planned campaign of such actions, with a growing number of North Koreans each time.

53.   His asylum bid prompted China to throw a tight security cordon around the consulate in apparent fear the North would try to snatch him back.

54.   In Seoul distant relatives of Hwang were beseiged by reporters and both the ruling and main opposition parties welcomed the asylum bid.

55.   An East Timor source close to the group said Friday they had planned to set themselves afire if their asylum bids were refused.

56.   Beijing has urged calm, saying authorities needed time to investigate, but later confirmed the asylum bid.

57.   The reported asylum bid comes a day after two North Koreans entered the US consulate and five tried to enter the Japanese mission in the same northern city.

58.   The Seoul government had accepted his asylum bid on humanitarian grounds, he said.

59.   The three North Koreans succeeded in entering the compounds despite heavy security imposed by Chinese authorities in the wake of other asylum bids by North Koreans in Western embassies.

60.   Three North Korean refugees were preparing to leave China Saturday after entering US and German embassy compounds in Beijing in desperate asylum bids, diplomats said.