Wednesday's agreement to let the latest five go brings to 38 the number of North Koreans who have been allowed to leave for South Korea since early March, all of them having sought asylum in foreign diplomatic compounds.

BBC: North Koreans arrive in Seoul

Ecuador raised the stakes in its diplomatic row with the United Kingdom on Thursday, officially offering Assange asylum in the South American country.

CNN: Julian Assange demands U.S. end WikiLeaks 'witch hunt'

On the other hand, to give Mr Ocalan asylum in Italy might be construed as coming close to diplomatic recognition of him and his movement.

ECONOMIST: Turkey and Italy

And so it is in China, where the authorities have lately been scrambling to throw up barbed wire and other unsightly barriers around diplomatic installations, in order to slow the rising tide of North Koreans seeking political asylum by hopping fences and dashing through gates into foreign missions.

ECONOMIST: North Korean refugees