North Korea Criticizes Human Rights Group That Condemned China's Forced Repatriation of Defectors as a Human Rights Deception Organization

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] As North Korea strengthens its pro-China relations, it criticized international human rights organizations concerned about China’s forced repatriation of North Korean defectors as ‘human rights slander organizations.’

On the 2nd, the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on its website, “Recently, Human Rights Watch once again spread rumors about China’s ‘forced repatriation’ and stirred up anti-China human rights commotion,” adding, “It is a heinous human rights slander organization that has actively participated in anti-China ‘human rights’ campaigns by successive U.S. administrations.”

It further condemned the organization for raising human rights issues in Hong Kong, Tibet, and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, saying, “They maliciously defamed the reality of China’s human rights by fabricating and forging slanderous materials and disseminating them.”

Moreover, it pointed out, “Last May, a senior official of Human Rights Watch participated in anti-China events related to the Xinjiang issue organized by the U.S. and the West, and in June, they released a report claiming that the Chinese government is threatening and surveilling its own overseas students with anti-government tendencies.”

Earlier, on the 23rd of last month (local time), Human Rights Watch expressed concerns that the Chinese government is detaining at least 1,170 North Korean defectors and that these individuals could be forcibly repatriated if North Korea opens its borders.

In diplomatic circles, this is interpreted as North Korea siding with China as it strengthens its pro-China diplomatic strategy.

It is evidenced by the fact that Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, personally visited a site commemorating China’s participation in the Korean War on the day after the Armistice Day, May 28.

A North Korean expert said, “As South Korea, the U.S., and Japan strengthen their trilateral cooperation on the North Korean nuclear issue, North Korea has no choice but to strengthen its relations with China to counterbalance,” adding, “China could become a variable in the North Korean denuclearization issue.”