[Exclusive] North Korea Human Rights Report to Include 'China Forced Repatriation Routes'

Yoon Administration to Release Second North Korea Human Rights Report by Month-End
Investigation Covers Repatriation Routes, Severe Abuses, and Punishment Levels
Collects Cases of Public Executions Amid Intensified 'Information Control'
Government States "Principled North Korea Policy... Encouraging Change in North Korea"

The Ministry of Unification is understood to include detailed investigation contents in the '2024 North Korean Human Rights Report,' scheduled to be released at the end of this month, regarding the routes through which China forcibly repatriates North Korean defectors, the human rights violations committed during the process, and the severity of punishments after repatriation. It is expected to serve as a 'warning message' indicating that our government is closely monitoring not only North Korea but also China, which has colluded in these human rights violation crimes.

The Government Includes Repatriation Routes and Punishments in the Report

A woman being dragged away by Chinese police outside the Korean Consulate in Beijing, China. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

On the 7th, a government source stated, "This year's North Korean Human Rights Report will pay close attention to the reality of forced repatriation," adding, "It will include the process by which defectors are arrested in China and transferred back to North Korea, as well as the routes they take through various border posts by region." The Yoon Seok-yeol administration published the North Korean Human Rights Report for the first time in March last year. This year marks the second edition. This time, four main topics?forced repatriation incidents, information control by North Korean authorities, exploitation of overseas dispatched workers, and intensified control during the COVID-19 period?are treated as 'key issues,' grouped into a separate part and placed at the forefront. While the first report broadly covered topics such as 'civil rights,' this time the themes and structure have changed.

Previously, China forcibly repatriated as many as 600 North Korean defectors immediately after the closing of the Hangzhou Asian Games in October last year. Reports of repatriations in units of dozens to hundreds have continued this year as well. Although the Chinese government has an obligation to protect defectors under international norms such as the Refugee Convention, it evades responsibility by considering them illegal border crossers (illegal residents) for economic purposes (to make money).

The government has identified repatriation routes based on numerous testimonies. It is also preparing visual materials showing the routes through which defectors, caught by public security, are repatriated via various border posts. For example, at the 'Dandong Border Post,' the process involves passing through the 'Sinuiju Security Department' before being sent to the 'North Pyongan Province Assembly Center.' Until now, this information was only cited in the form of 'secondhand reports' through non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The fact that the government is directly investigating and publishing it as a report carries a different significance in terms of 'credibility.' Since arrests by public security are the starting point of repatriation, this can also serve as grounds to hold China accountable on the international stage.

Based on the collection and investigation results of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the route was reconstructed for the mass repatriation of 500 to 600 North Korean defectors by China in October 2023.

Attention was also paid to 'human rights violations' such as torture occurring during the forced repatriation process. The government collected testimonies that (security officers) forcibly extract confessions through violence and that numerous sexual assaults occur during detention. The report plans to focus particularly on the situations faced by women. It is reported that the report contains specific testimonies regarding cases of sexual violence by security officers, cavity searches (uterine examinations), forced abortions, and infanticide.

The report also investigates what charges are applied and the severity of punishments after repatriation. Until now, defection was known to be punishable under 'treason against the homeland' or 'illegal border crossing laws,' but the report will include how the charges and punishment levels have changed over time. While last year's report only mentioned that there were cases punished under administrative penalty laws, this time it will cover the sentences applied at the time of repatriation.

Additionally, in the section dealing with 'information control,' it is understood that the report has collected 'recent cases' of North Korea publicly executing residents under the 'Law on the Rejection of Reactionary Thought and Culture.' Since adopting this law in December 2020, North Korea has abused it as grounds to execute residents who distribute South Korean videos. If testimonies that North Korea executed residents for information control are included in the report, it will be the first case revealed by the government.

In last year's first report, issues concerning abductees, detainees, and prisoners of war were placed at the very end, but this time they are expected to be positioned more prominently. This reflects the government's expressed determination to resolve these issues, such as establishing an 'Abductee Countermeasures Team' directly under the Minister of Unification.

Advanced Investigation and Documentation... The Next Task is Utilization in the International Community

North Korea Human Rights Report. [Image source=Yonhap News]

It is unprecedented for the government to collect and investigate testimonies on North Korean human rights issues to this extent and publish them in an official report. Previous reports on North Korean human rights issued by the government or affiliated research institutes had limitations or taboos, focusing mainly on problems occurring 'inside North Korea.' This report breaks that mold by covering forced repatriation in China and the exploitation of dispatched workers sent overseas to places like Russia.

There is hope that the international community will be able to condemn the human rights violation crimes of the 'Kim Jong-un regime' based on the Korean government's investigation results. In the field of North Korean human rights, the report released by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea (COI) in 2014 is considered the most credible document. This also means that no meaningful report has been produced in the past ten years. How the government will utilize and publicize this report on the international stage is an important task.

A government official said, "There was much internal debate about whether to separately address the issue of defectors in China," adding, "Given that forced repatriation continues despite international concerns, it was judged appropriate to include the investigation results." The official continued, "This report will demonstrate the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's determination to draw international support and induce change in North Korea based on a principled North Korea policy."

Meanwhile, President Yoon Seok-yeol emphasized at the 69th Memorial Day ceremony held yesterday at the National Seoul National Cemetery, "Just about 50 kilometers from here, there are compatriots living in North Korea who are brutally deprived of freedom and human rights and are starving," and added, "Restoring freedom and human rights to North Korean compatriots, and furthermore, advancing toward a free and prosperous unified Republic of Korea, ultimately requires us to become stronger."