China may have repatriated hundreds to North Korea

Activists hold a rally in Seoul on Aug. 7, calling on China to stop repatriating North Korean defectors. [NEWS1]

Some 600 North Koreans may have been repatriated from China following the Asian Games, according to multiple rights groups.

“Forced repatriation of North Korean defectors imprisoned at several border regions between North Korea and China, including Dandong in Liaoning Province, and Hunchun, Tumen, Nanping, and Changbai in Jilin Province, appears to have taken place simultaneously,” said Justice for North Korea, an NGO on North Korean human rights, in a statement on Wednesday.

The group estimated the mass repatriation occurred at around 8 p.m. on Monday, shortly after the conclusion of the Hangzhou Asian Games. The deportees reportedly included young children.

“In some areas, there were allegedly North Korean security officials who came over to the Chinese territory to command the repatriation,” said the group.

Another rights group, One Korea Network, also put the number of deportees at around 600.

"The sources said that up to 200 North Koreans were repatriated through Dandong, and the rest were divided up between the other cities and sent back to North Korea via the border facilities in those cities," it said in its statement on Tuesday.

If verified, these repatriations would account for the largest number of North Koreans forcibly sent back from China to North Korea since Pyongyang closed its borders during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho, upon being questioned about the reports during a National Assembly meeting on Wednesday, said the ministry was trying to verify them.

The Foreign Ministry in Seoul did not confirm the reports on Thursday.

Seoul has repeatedly urged Beijing to send North Korean defectors held in China to South Korea instead of deporting them.

An estimated 2,000 North Korean defectors are detained in China.

China regards North Koreans entering its country as illegal immigrants rather than refugees.

Repatriated North Koreans face harsh punishment, including torture, imprisonment or even execution.

The UN discussed the risks of repatriation of North Korean defectors detained in China in recent months as the North appeared to get ready to reopen its borders.

Lawmakers of the rival conservative People Power Party (PPP) and the liberal Democratic Party criticized the Yoon Suk Yeol government over the repatriations.

“This is a disgrace to the Yoon Suk Yeol government that has put forward protecting human rights in North Korea as one of its key policies,” said PPP Rep. Ha Tae-keung in the meeting.

Defector-turned-lawmaker PPP Rep. Thae Yong-ho, during the committee meeting, threw down a 100-pager report submitted by the Unification Ministry to the Assembly, retorting there was “not a single piece of information here about the deportations.”

Democratic Party Rep. Lee Won-wook said in the meeting the Yoon administration may have lost leverage with China and Russia on North Korea issues as it pursued closer ties with the United States and Japan.

BY ESTHER CHUNG, CHUNG YEONG-GYO [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]