[INTERVIEW] Mother keeps fingers crossed for N. Korean daughter detained in China

A North Korean defector, center, who asked to be identified only by her surname, Kim, attends a weekly rally near the Embassy of China in Seoul, Monday. Kim's daughter is detained in China and faces repatriation to North Korea as the border between the two countries reopened in August. Kim and other human rights activists urge China to stop deporting North Koreans escapees held there. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

This article is the first in a two-part series about North Korean detainees in China who are at risk of being repatriated back to the North. ― ED.

Defector seeks help to get daughter back as China's repatriation of North Korean defectors looms

By Kang Hyun-kyung

A North Korean defector living in South Korea, who wished to be identified only by her surname, Kim, panicked when she heard that the border between North Korea and China had reopened.

On Aug. 26, North Korea said it would allow its citizens staying overseas ― mostly in China and Russia ― to return home and that they would be placed in quarantine for a week once they arrive in the North.

The announcement, issued by the State Emergency Epidemic Prevention Headquarters and released by the state media, signaled the reopening of the border more than three-and-a-half years after the COVID-driven border closure was introduced in January 2020.

The news is an ominous sign for a North Korean defector like Kim, who has a family member detained in China.

It is only a matter of time before her daughter, who was caught in a Chinese government crackdown on illegal aliens and has since been detained in a prison in China's northeastern region, is sent back to North Korea where she is sure to face severe punishment.

Kim said her heart sinks every time she thinks about the fate that awaits her daughter.

Torture, rape and starvation are some of the common experiences many North Korean escapees have gone through in the North's prison camps. Pregnant women have experienced forced abortions and beatings are just a part of life in the brutal camps.

"It feels like my heart is being torn apart," Kim, who lives in Gangwon Province, said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

She did not provide further details about her identity, mindful of causing harm not only to her daughter held in China, but also to her son who still lives in the North.

Kim said her daughter crossed the border into China years ago to survive. Kim and her husband, who were left to care for their other children, were unable to feed them. Ironically, the choice her daughter made to survive has now put her in danger.

A year later, Kim went to China hoping to reunite with her daughter. But she could not meet her daughter and defected to South Korea alone.

"She's a good girl and tried to help her family by making money in China," Kim said.

Her eyes welled up with tears as she described what had happened to the girl.

Kim's daughter was caught in April 2021.

"She and I talked over the phone that day. But when I called her again, she didn't answer. Feeling anxious, I called her again and again all night. But she didn't answer. That was when I realized something had gone wrong," she said.

Before she was caught, Kim's daughter worked as a waitress at a restaurant run by a South Korean couple in the northeastern part of China.

After a sleepless night, she heard from the female owner of the restaurant who called and said that her daughter had been arrested.

Kim was devastated.

She said she spent the last two years weeping, while praying to God for help. But her prayers were not answered. Her daughter now faces an uncertain future.

"I'm a helpless mom here and my daughter is out there crying for help. I feel guilty because there's nothing I can do to save my daughter who is at risk of repatriation," Kim said as she sobbed.

"I eat, but feel no taste. At night, I close my eyes to sleep, but end up staying up all night," she added.

Oh Chang-hwa, second from left, a human rights activist and founder of the North Korea Club established to help North Korean defectors, stages a rally along with other activists in central Seoul, Monday, to pressure China to stop sending North Korean defectors back to the North. The sign he holds calls on China to guarantee the human rights of North Korean defectors. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Like Kim's daughter, there are many other North Korean escapees detained in China. Their number has soared due to tight border controls triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some believe as many as 2,000 North Korean escapees have been detained in China.

However, some activists say that figure is exaggerated.

Seo Jae-pyong, president of the North Korean Defectors' Association, said the actual number of North Korean escapees detained in China stands at 200-300.

The estimates may vary. But one thing that is clear is that a humanitarian crisis is inevitable if China adheres to its decades-long practice of sending escapees back to North Korea.

China ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, which call for the protection of refugees and legal assistance for them. However, in order to justify its brutal repatriation policy, China does not recognize North Korean defectors as refugees and treats them as undocumented aliens who illegally crossed the border for economic reasons.

Joel Atkinson, a professor at the Graduate School of International and Area Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, said China has not been affected by outside criticism about its brutal repatriation policy and will continue to do so in the years to come.

"The Chinese government has what Koreans would call a 'thick face' (brazen-faced) ― it is largely unaffected by any criticism," he said. "Nothing is going to change its approach toward the North Koreans currently in detention."

Despite this, he said the international community should keep building pressure on China to play by the rules.

"Over the longer term, if Beijing pays a high reputational cost for its cooperation with North Korea, it will build pressure within China that the government is on the wrong track in its approach to human rights and relations with the world," Atkinson said.

Human rights activists have begun to gather in front of the Chinese Embassy in Seoul for weekly rallies to put pressure on China to stop repatriating North Korean defectors.

On Monday, Kim and dozens of activists held a news conference near the embassy. About half of the participants at the rally were North Korean defectors.

Holding up signs written in Korean, Chinese and English, they urged China to live up to its commitments as a signatory of international refugee conventions.

Oh Chang-hwa, a human rights activist and founder of the North Korea Club established to help North Korean defectors, urged China to free the North Korean detainees.

Oh said the vast majority of the North Korean detainees want to come to South Korea to live. He reminded China of its international duty as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and U.N. Human Rights Council to act responsibly.

He then urged China to recognize North Korean defectors as refugees and provide necessary help to which they are entitled.

Following his speech, a female pastor read Kim's letter pleading to China for mercy and to release her daughter.

"Please help us. I want to get my daughter back. I would like to hug her and tell her how sorry I am for all of the ordeals she has gone through because she went to China for our family," her letter read. "Repatriation means death. My daughter is desperate and waiting for help from the outside. Please help my daughter and set her free."

China has not responded to the weekly protests.

But Kim said she will continue to attend the rallies hoping to get her daughter back.

A passerby looks at activists holding a rally to call on China not to repatriate North Korean escapees detained in the country back to the North, near the Chinese embassy in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul