Hundreds of North Korean defectors in China have been sent back to their home countries. This is what human rights defense associations in South Korea are denouncing. During the Covid pandemic, many North Koreans have been arrested in China, the country’s main exit point. The total closure of North Korea made their expulsion impossible. But as the border opened again, more than 600 detainees were reportedly sent back.
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From our correspondent in Seoul, Nicolas Rocca
During the pandemic, fleeing China, where most North Korean defectors are located, had become an almost impossible mission.
While in 23 years of activity, Pastor Kim Seung-eun has organized the exfiltration of more than 1,000 defectors, he has only succeeded five times since 2020. Now, he fears for those who are still in China: “ There has been a lot of noise around the repatriation of North Koreans detained in China for three years since the pandemic. But I received a photo of the first defectors to leave. I can’t broadcast it, but right now defectors are returning to North Korea. »
“ Very severe punishment »
Information widely relayed by other human rights activists, but which the South Korean authorities are still seeking to verify. Kim Seung-eun worries about the fate that will await them when they return home: “ I know that if they return to North Korea, their punishment will be very severe. Especially for the first of them, who risk serving as an example. And then the punishments will be different depending on the situation, they will be particularly severe for those who met South Koreans or who wanted to go to South Korea “.
Elizabeth Salmon, United Nations special rapporteur for the human rights situation in North Korea, estimates that more than 2,000 North Koreans are currently detained in China.
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