Defectors are asked to relate abuses

The head of South Korea’s human rights watchdog sent a letter yesterday to about 15,000 North Korean defectors in the country, urging them to report human rights abuses they suffered or witnessed while in the North, an official said.

In the letter, Hyun Byung-chul of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) also expressed his personal regret for a lack of systems in South Korea to keep track of such abuses in North Korea, the NHRCK official said.

“What you have reported will be kept completely confidential along with your identity,” Hyun was quoted as saying in the letter, which also provided a description of the NHRCK’s activities.

More than 20,000 North Korean defectors have arrived in South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce. Most of them fled via China.

Yonhap