A human rights group, Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), has reported that more than 100 North Korean defectors have gone missing after being caught by the country’s secret police while attempting to escape or contact relatives in South Korea.
According to TJWG’s report, based on interviews with 62 North Korean escapees now living in South Korea, 113 individuals across 66 disappearance cases have been identified. Approximately 80% were arrested within North Korea, while the rest were captured in China or Russia.
The report highlights that:
– 40% of cases occurred while attempting to escape
– 26% were punished for family members’ offenses
– 9% were accused of maintaining contact with individuals in South Korea or other countries
– 81% of individuals vanished after detention by the Ministry of State Security (MSS)
TJWG aims to shed light on enforced disappearances as transnational crimes involving China and Russia, ahead of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s review on North Korea.
The United Nations estimates 200,000 people are detained in North Korea’s gulags, facing torture, rape, forced labor, and inhumane treatment.
North Korea has intensified border controls, labeling defectors as “human scum.” The international community continues to raise concerns about human rights violations in the isolated nation.
