Activists hold the portraits of North Korean escapees detained in China during a press conference held at the National Assembly, Oct. 31, to urge China to stop sending North Korean defectors back to the North. Yonhap

Rival parties split over motion urging China to stop repatriating NK defectors

Editor’s note

This is a follow-up to the story, “N. Korean defector keeps fingers crossed for daughter detained in China,” published on Sept. 8 by The Korea Times.

By Kang Hyun-kyung

A North Korean defector, who asked to be identified only by her surname Kim, has panicked as the worst-case scenario about her daughter, appears to have become a reality.

She recently lost contact with her daughter, who had been detained in China since 2021.

Kim took this as a sign that her daughter was sent back to North Korea along with hundreds of other North Korean detainees.

“I was told that my daughter was no longer there,” Kim told The Korea Times on Thursday over the phone.

The sobbing mom said her heart sank.

The other day, she said she spoke with a Korean Chinese woman whom she called “auntie” over the phone to ask about her daughter, only to hear that her daughter was no longer at the detention center located in northeastern China.

Her daughter had been working as a waitress at a restaurant owned by the woman when she was arrested by Chinese security forces during a crackdown on illegal immigrants.

“Auntie told me that she went to the detention center to see my daughter as she did regularly. This time, she heard from the corrections officer that my daughter was no longer there,” Kim said. “I think she was repatriated back to North Korea. It’s really difficult to accept it, but that seems to be true.”

Kim said she had the phone conversation with the woman in October, shortly after the news reports that China secretly sent 500 to 600 North Korean escapees back to the North shortly after the end of the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.

The Ministry of Unification confirmed the reports were based on facts.

Kim was devastated.

Then she broke her silence after a brief pause, speaking about how the developments about her daughter tormented her.

“This too shall pass,” she said.

Her voice tapered off, as if she were overwhelmed by pain arising from the realization that her daughter’s life was on the line.

“I will live a life no matter what because I am still alive,” she said. “I pinned my hopes on my daughter, but a miracle didn’t happen, and my poor daughter was sent back to the horrible country.”

A North Korean defector, center, who asked to be identified only by her surname Kim, holds a sign written in Chinese during a protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, Sept. 4, to urge China to stop sending North Korean defectors back to the North. Her daughter, who was detained in China at the time of the protest, is believed to have been repatriated back to the North. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

‘This too shall pass’

Oh Chang-hwa, a human rights activist who has helped Kim and other North Korean defectors, said he “double-checked” Kim’s daughter’s whereabouts in a separate phone call with an unnamed broker who had contacted Kim’s family living in the North.

“I was told that Ms. Kim’s brother was coerced by North Korea’s security forces to cooperate with them as they worked on a background check. They asked if the young woman they held was his niece. He said yes because he knew they knew everything about her after interrogating her,” Oh told The Korea Times. “I guess she was tortured.”

Oh said the past several weeks have been particularly tough for Kim and other North Korean defectors because of the news about China’s forced repatriation of hundreds of North Korean detainees.

He said they were devastated again at the news that the National Assembly failed to adopt a resolution urging China to stop repatriating North Korean defectors.

He lashed out at the lawmakers for their “inhumane” nature.

“What kind of politicians are they?” he asked. “They didn’t to live up to their commitment to serve the best interest of their nationals, because of China? Does that make sense?”

Outrage

The two main parties were divided over the motion. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) opposed the parliamentary resolution initiated by lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party (PPP).

If passed, the DPK claimed the motion would further deteriorate South Korea’s relations with China.

The subcommittee consists of eight lawmakers, five from the DPK and three from the PPP.

The ruling party lawmakers slammed their DPK counterparts for their double standard on human rights.

“In the National Assembly interpellation session, the DPK members denounced Cabinet ministers for the failure to stop China from sending North Korean detainees back to the North. But when they sat down at the subcommittee to deliberate the motion, they did the opposite and refused to cooperate with us in passing it,” Rep. Ha Tae-kyung said.

Rep. Kim Kyung-hyup of the DPK tried to justify his disapproval of the motion, saying in a media interview, “I wonder if the U.N. has accurate information about North Koreans detained in China. And I think we need to learn more about China’s internal process to identify how many asylum-seekers were there among illegal immigrants.”

He claimed that not all North Korean escapees in China are defectors.

“I understand that some North Koreans crossed the border for food or to avoid political persecution. But not all of them are defectors; as I understand there are some who come to China illegally to make money. We need to clarify who are economic migrants and who are defectors,” he said.

Lee Yong-hee, a human rights activist and professor of economics at Gachon University in Seoul, voiced worries about the consequences of the unsuccessful parliamentary motion.

He said many North Korean defectors are increasingly feeling insecure about their life in South Korea because of people who sympathize with North Korea.

“During the previous Moon Jae-in government, they witnessed South Korean government repatriated North Korean escapees back to the North against their will. Some politicians bullied the defectors, calling them ‘traitors.’ I’m concerned that the unsuccessful parliamentary motion would pave the way for their distrust of this society,” he said.