WASHINGTON - A GROUP campaigning for freedom in North Korea on Thursday asked Americans to 'offset' their purchases of China-made Christmas presents by giving money to charity groups working on behalf of North Korean refugees.

The North Korea Freedom Coalition said goods were often made by slave laborers in China, which it charged was also forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees to imprisonment and death.

'It is nearly impossible to avoid buying products made in China, especially during the holidays but we ask Americans to offset these purchases by donating for the rescue of North Korean refugees, most of whom are women and children,' the group's chairman Suzanne Scholte said.

She charged that China, in defiance of international law and requests by the United States and South Korean governments, cooperated with Pyongyang 'to hunt down refugees and force them back to North Korea to face torture and death'.

Her coalition, representing more than 60 American, Asian, and European organisations, including North Korean defectors' groups, planned to hold rallies at the Chinese Embassy in Washington on Friday to highlight the refugee issue and 'offset' concept.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans fleeing hunger or repression are believed to be hiding out in China, which repatriates those whom it catches under an agreement with Pyongyang.

Back home, they can face harsh punishment or even death in a few cases.

Some refugees try to travel on from China to Southeast Asian countries in the hope of eventual resettlement in South Korea. -- AFP