Transition Justice Working Group Tracks North Korea's Forced Disappearance Crimes
Most Involve Bowibu... Suggests 'Kim Jong-un's Responsibility as Perpetrator'
China and Russia Implicitly Tolerate or Aid, Effectively Cooperating in Crimes
It is widely known that attempting to defect from North Korea results in arrest. It is also common for people to be detained for religious activities or for making 'subversive remarks.' There are even many cases where individuals disappear without any known reason.
An analysis has revealed that a significant portion of enforced disappearances occurring within North Korea are carried out by the State Security Department (Bowibu). This suggests that these crimes are systematically organized at the national level.
First Investigation into 'Enforced Disappearances' Committed Inside North Korea
The Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), a human rights investigation organization, released a report titled “The Non-Existent Existence: Investigation of Enforced Disappearance Crimes in North Korea” on the 31st. From January 2021 to May of this year, TJWG conducted in-depth interviews with 62 North Korean defectors settled in South Korea and analyzed 66 cases of enforced disappearance (involving 113 missing persons) by stages of victimization. This is the first study to trace the process and perpetrating agencies of enforced disappearance crimes occurring within the restricted-access North Korean territory.
Historically, totalitarian states have engaged in widespread enforced disappearances as a means to enforce 'obedience' throughout society. Eliminating political opponents and instilling fear that anyone could be the next target of enforced disappearance were common methods of governance for most dictators. The Nazi regime’s 'Night and Fog' decree is a representative example.
TJWG’s research starts from the recognition that such enforced disappearance issues are no longer internationally tolerated as 'grave crimes.' It targets North Korea, which continues to commit crimes at the state level. In 2014, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea (COI) condemned public executions and enforced disappearances as core tools sustaining the regime.
'Crimes' Passed Down Hereditarily? Majority Involvement of State Security Department
The process leading to enforced disappearance by North Korea's State Security Department. [Image source=Jeonhwan-gi Justice Working Group]
The 62 interviewees ranged in age from their 20s to their 80s. Except for one who retracted their statement, 25 defected during Kim Jong-il’s era, and 36 defected after Kim Jong-un came to power.
Among the 113 missing persons, 35 (31.0%) disappeared after Kim Jong-un assumed power. While it is difficult to determine whether enforced disappearance crimes have increased or decreased compared to the past, it is at least partially verified that they continue.
The 'perpetrating agencies' that initially arrested or detained the victims were identified as the State Security Department (Bowibu), Border Guard, People’s Army Security Bureau, Ministry of Social Security, and the Non-Socialist Censorship Group. More than half of the missing persons, 62 out of 113 (54.9%), disappeared due to the State Security Department. When including cases where the perpetrating agency was traced after arrest or detention, the number of cases involving the State Security Department rises to 92 (81.4%).
The State Security Department is an intelligence agency directly under the North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman and functions as a secret police agency. It is not controlled by the Cabinet. It can be thought of as the 'North Korean version of the National Intelligence Service.' The involvement of an agency that only the figure at the 'leader' position in North Korea can command in enforced disappearances implies the responsibility of the Kim family for these crimes.
Additionally, 23 persons (20.4%) were arrested overseas in countries such as China and Russia and subsequently disappeared. This points to the responsibility of China and Russia. During interviews, there were cases where the Chinese Public Security Bureau was identified as the initial arresting agency of the missing persons. This is interpreted as tacit approval or complicity in enforced disappearance crimes.
No Exceptions Even for Young Children... Disappearances of Those Under 10 Years Old
In September 2018, North Korean women dressed in hanbok participated in the "International March for Peace, Prosperity, and Reunification of Korea" held on the outskirts of Pyongyang. [Image source=AFP·Getty image]
There were notable points regarding the gender of the missing persons. The distribution was similar with 66 males (58.4%) and 47 females (41.6%). Considering that in enforced disappearance statistics from regions such as Latin America, women account for only about 6-30%, this is a relatively high figure. Reasons for the unusually high proportion of women include ▲cases of defecting to China and being arrested and repatriated, ▲the guilt-by-association policy where women accompanying family members are detained, and ▲indiscriminate enforced disappearances without explicit criteria (which explains the small gender difference).
By age group, most victims were concentrated in their 20s and 30s, with 44 out of 113 (38.9%).
The most shocking indicator is that 'children' are no exception. Cases of enforced disappearance involving children under 10 years old (0-9 years) accounted for 13 persons (11.5%). Limiting enforced disappearance crimes to this study, this means that one out of every ten people who disappeared in North Korea was a child under ten years old.
The reasons for disappearance were investigated in order as guilt-by-association (5 persons), attempted defection (4 persons), preparation for defection (3 persons), and unknown causes (1 person). Children were caught without exception during the process when their families were caught attempting to defect. The report emphasized that "enforced disappearance of children requires public inquiry, explicit criticism, and strong action from the international community."
Conditions That Produce 'Crimes' Without Guaranteeing Basic Rights
TJWG focused on the 'continuity' characteristic of enforced disappearance crimes. The harm continues from the moment of arrest or abduction until the authorities acknowledge detention and disclose information about the missing person's life or whereabouts. Even if the missing person has died, if the authorities conceal the fact, the enforced disappearance crime continues.
Furthermore, the report pointed out that the entire 'due process' necessary for deprivation of liberty?including the right to be informed of the reasons for arrest and charges, the right to legal counsel, and oversight by an independent judiciary?is not observed. This is the background that inevitably leads to the easy and increased production of enforced disappearance crimes. Among the 90 people who disappeared inside North Korea (79.6%), there was no case where the perpetrating agency presented a warrant or explained the reason before arrest or detention.
For example, in 2016 in Hyesan City, Yanggang Province, a woman who sent her daughter to defect to China disappeared. At that time, several State Security officers visited her home, saying they had questions, took her away, and her whereabouts became unknown. In 2016 in Sariwon City, North Hwanghae Province, a man involved in a fight was taken away for voluntary accompaniment and then disappeared.
A defector who was investigated for using a Chinese-made mobile phone (2019 defector from Hyesan City, Yanggang Province) testified about what happened after voluntary accompaniment. He said, "They take you without explaining the reason. Then they say, 'Give us your Chinese phone.' If you say you don’t have it, they beat you as they please."
"China and Russia's Tacit Approval and Complicity Make Them Responsible; This Is a Transnational Crime"
A North Korean defector woman being dragged out by the public security after attempting to enter the Japanese consulate in China in 2012.
Profiler Lee Seung-joo, who participated in the study, explained the reason for presenting which agencies were identified at the arrest/detention stage and the enforced disappearance stage in this report: "It is to highlight the responsibility for enforced disappearance crimes when holding Kim Jong-un, the current leader of North Korea, and high-ranking officials accountable and imposing targeted sanctions."
He said, "Looking at the reasons for enforced disappearance, it clearly shows that these disappearances occur under the purpose of maintaining the power and regime of the Kim Jong-un family, meaning the greatest responsibility lies with Kim Jong-un. Investigations into the personnel structure of the key perpetrating agency, the State Security Department, and the personal details of senior officials are also underway."
Project Director Kang Jeong-hyun introduced the research background, saying, "Until now, North Korea’s enforced disappearance crimes have been mainly highlighted in cases of abduction of foreigners such as South Koreans and Japanese, and crimes committed by the authorities against residents have been less illuminated, creating an imbalance." He added, "We especially wanted to reveal that a significant portion of enforced disappearance cases inside North Korea accumulate responsibility on China and Russia. The international community needs to define and respond to enforced disappearances caused by the arrest and repatriation of defectors or asylum seekers in third countries by various agencies, or by abduction activities carried out by North Korean agents, which are tacitly approved or abetted, as transnational crimes."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
