On October 31st, a human rights organization based in Seoul, South Korea, stated that over 100 North Koreans were arrested by secret police while attempting to escape from North Korea. Some of them even went missing for trying to contact their relatives in South Korea, and the forced disappearances of some individuals are related to both the Chinese Communist Party and Russia.
The Korean human rights group “Transitional Justice Working Group” (TJWG), which tracks defectors from North Korea, conducted interviews with 62 North Koreans who have already escaped to South Korea, detailing some cases of forced disappearances among them.
Through their investigation, the TJWG confirmed the identities of 113 individuals out of 66 cases of forced disappearances, along with their escape routes. These cases are managed in collaboration with other international groups.
Among these 113 individuals, 80% (90 people) were arrested within North Korean borders, while the rest were apprehended in China or Russia, with approximately 30% of them going missing since the end of 2011 when Kim Jong-un came to power.
Nearly 40% of the individuals went missing while attempting to flee North Korea, 26% were detained due to the “crimes” of other family members, and close to 9% were accused of maintaining contact with people in South Korea or other countries.
According to the TJWG’s report, over 81% of the individuals went missing after being transferred to the Ministry of State Security (MSS) in North Korea and detained. The department is North Korea’s secret police force, commonly known as the “Guardian Bureau.”
A defector interviewed, who fled from Hyesan, a North Korean city across the river from China, to South Korea in 2018, mentioned that his friend was arrested by the MSS while trying to retrieve a Chinese cell phone hidden in the mountains. There are rumors circulating that his friend has since passed away.
The interviewee stated, “Once the MSS discovers communication records with South Korea, it is considered a serious crime.”
The head of this project expressed that the report aims to highlight the forced disappearance practices implemented by the Kim Jong-un regime as transnational crimes involving the Chinese Communist Party and Russia.
Since the end of the Korean War in 1953 under a ceasefire agreement, tens of thousands of North Koreans have escaped the country. Many of them, upon being captured or repatriated, were sent to prisons or other detention facilities before being released.
The TJWG’s report comes as the United Nations Human Rights Council is about to release its quadrennial Universal Periodic Review on North Korea.
The UN estimates that up to 200,000 North Koreans are detained in a vast network of labor camps operated by the Ministry of State Security, with many individuals being held for political reasons. A 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry report stated that these prisoners face torture, rape, forced labor, starvation, and other inhumane treatment.
The North Korean regime has long referred to defectors as “human scum.” Kim Jong-un has further tightened border controls in recent years.
This month, the North Korean Association for Human Rights Studies denied the UN’s reports on forced disappearances and other human rights violations, dismissing the allegations as “fabricated.”
China denies the presence of any North Korean defectors within its borders, instead labeling them as illegal economic migrants.
In December 2023, the TJWG disclosed that in October 2023, China carried out large-scale repatriations of North Korean defectors, totaling over 600 individuals, mostly women. The group stated that these individuals are viewed as traitors by North Korean authorities and upon their return may face torture, sexual violence, or even execution.
(Adapted from Reuters’ coverage)