[On the Brink of Deportation] ① Three Mothers and Daughters Kidnapped and Sold Immediately After Setting Foot on Chinese Soil

Interview with Kim Eun-joo, Defector and Author of 'The Eleven-Year-Old's Will'
Kidnapped Sister Right After Defection... Brokers Sold Mother and Daughter
"After Repatriation, Returned Alive but Chained and Beaten"
Serious Human Rights Violations Against Defectors in China... "Urgent Rescue Efforts Needed"

Editor's NoteWith the opening of the Hangzhou Asian Games on the 23rd, North Korean defectors in China have been pushed to the brink of forced repatriation. As North Korea, which had closed its borders due to the spread of COVID-19, resumes human exchanges in connection with the Asian Games, there is growing concern that a large number of defectors detained in China will be forcibly sent back. North Korean defectors suffer human rights abuses such as human trafficking while in China, and after repatriation, they face detention, torture, and execution risks. Asia Economy has focused on the harsh reality faced by defectors and explored the role of our government in preventing forced repatriation.

It took 24 years. That is the time it took for a mother and her two daughters who escaped North Korea to share their memories of "that day" with each other. The three crossed the frozen Tumen River through biting cold winds, only to face hell again as soon as they crossed the border. The girl, who had watched her father die from malnutrition before she even matured, had to endure the brutal reality of abduction, sexual assault, and human trafficking after fleeing to China. Their tragic life story is not unique to them alone. It is an ongoing crisis faced by the majority of North Korean defectors currently in China.

Life-Threatening Escape, Sudden Abduction... Hell Descended on the Mother and Two Daughters

A North Korean defector woman is crossing the Tumen River using a tube.
[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

This is the story of Kim Eun-joo (37), author of the book "The Will of an Eleven-Year-Old," which chronicles her defection. One day in February 1999, in the early dawn, Kim, her mother, and her sister who was two years older, braved a snowstorm and set out for the Tumen River. After their father died from malnutrition, the three had been living as "flower children" (homeless children), and decided to defect with the mindset of "if we are going to starve to death, we might as well try to escape." The frozen Tumen River cracked with a sharp sound under every step. After walking silently for some time, they encountered an unfrozen tributary and plunged into the icy water, successfully crossing the border.

Hiding in the mountains to dry their wet clothes, the three only dared to come down to the riverbank after nightfall. It was then that a vehicle with headlights on suddenly charged at them in the pitch-black darkness and snatched Kim’s sister in an instant. Kim’s sister was brutally sexually assaulted, and when their mother sought help by going to a lit house, she too was abused by an ethnic Korean Chinese man. This was the harsh reality unfolding before the eyes of an eleven-year-old girl in a foreign land where she could not even communicate. For 24 years, the mother and daughters neither asked nor revealed what happened that day to each other.

Author Kim Eun-joo (37) of the book Testament of an Eleven-Year-Old is explaining the process of defection from North Korea in an interview with Asia Economy. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

Kim eventually reunited with her sister after many hardships, but the nightmare did not end. The final destination brokered by traffickers was human trafficking. Kim explained, "China still holds a 'preference for sons' mentality, resulting in a low birth rate of girls, and the scarcity of females is even more pronounced in rural areas." Because of this, women wandering near the border after defecting were often kidnapped or lured with food and sold to unmarried Chinese men. This practice of human trafficking was rampant then and continues to this day.

The mother and daughters were sold for 2,000 yuan, roughly 350,000 Korean won. The mother was forced into marriage with a Han Chinese man who did not even understand her language or know her name. Their life was no different from slavery. They were treated as farm laborers or tools for bearing children. The broker deceived the sisters by promising they could attend school, but it was all lies. Kim said, "Still, we are grateful that we were not separated. Many girls our age were sold alone to various places."

"I Couldn’t Sleep Peacefully Even for a Day"... Forced Back to North Korea

A reenactment of the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors by the Chinese government at a rally held in Seoul in 2008. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Kim recalled, "We lived in constant fear that Chinese police might raid us at any moment. Whenever a light appeared in the dark night or dogs started barking, I would grab my mother’s and sister’s hands and run to the back mountain." Just as they were getting somewhat used to the harsh life, the three were pushed to the brink of death again. They were caught by the police and forcibly repatriated. It was March 2002, three years after their defection. That day, the police vehicle drove without headlights along narrow, winding rural roads and ambushed them, arresting the three.

As Kim calmly recounted her difficult experiences, she first became emotional when talking about her youngest sibling. The mother and daughters were repatriated when their younger brother, born in China, was not even a year old. Although she cherished the brother she raised in her arms, she could not speak of his existence. In North Korea, it is widely regarded as strange to give birth after the age of 40, and the fact that he was fathered by a Chinese man was a source of fear of criticism for Kim’s mother. It is said that she even hid his existence during investigations by the National Intelligence Service after coming to South Korea.

North Korean defectors waiting for third-country resettlement at Chiang Saen Police Station, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, May 2007. [Image source=Yonhap News]

After staying briefly at a border university, the mother and daughters were repatriated and underwent a first interrogation by the State Security Department. They were then sent to a labor training camp for further interrogation, passed through a detention center resembling a prison, and finally sent to a reeducation camp. Fortunately, there were no records of them in their hometown, and instead of being sent directly to the reeducation camp, they were allowed to stay longer at the detention center. Because many people died of starvation, those whose whereabouts were unknown for about three years were often declared dead. The three took advantage of the lax surveillance to attempt an escape and succeeded in crossing the Tumen River again.

Though they returned from the brink of death, no one welcomed the mother and daughters. Kim said, "During the repatriation process, my mother’s health rapidly deteriorated, and she narrowly escaped death several times, but we headed to the house where my younger brother was, saying 'Let’s try to live well again.' However, the Chinese father and brothers chained us to a tree in the middle of winter and beat us." They were regarded not as family but as 'property' to be taken away. Eventually, they escaped barefoot over a fence in the dead of winter and, after narrowly escaping death multiple times, arrived in South Korea in September 2006.

"China is a Final Destination for Human Trafficking... South Korean Government Must Make Rescue Efforts"

Author Kim Eun-joo (37) of the book Testament of an Eleven-Year-Old is explaining the process of defection from North Korea in an interview with Asia Economy. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

Kim’s story is not just about her family. The majority of North Korean defectors are defenselessly exposed to human rights violations such as human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and forced marriage in China. This is because the Chinese government does not recognize defectors as refugees but considers them illegal immigrants for "economic reasons." After repatriation, they face high risks of detention, torture, and execution, but the Chinese government denies even this. These problems are passed down to children in forms such as forced separation, forced abortion, and infanticide.

North Korea is gradually reopening its borders, which had been closed for over three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there are growing concerns that human exchanges will increase with the Hangzhou Asian Games, leading to mass repatriation of defectors in China. Recently, North Korean residents with "guaranteed status," such as students and diplomats, have returned to their home country first. Kim urged, "If they can just avoid repatriation, they would be willing to go even to a 'pigsty.' I hope the government shows concrete efforts, such as diplomatically pressuring China."