Activists take new approach to stop China from sending back N. Koreans

Activists, including a young child, protest against China's forced repatriations of North Korean defectors in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., in this photo taken in July. One of the activists said he did not want his face shown as he travels to China regularly for business. Courtesy of One Korea Network

Activists urged to leverage Hangzhou Asian Games to influence Chinese policy

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Human rights activists have been staging weekly protests in front of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Washington, D.C., urging Beijing to stop the forced repatriations North Korean escapees back to the North.

Henry Song, a Korean American human rights activist and director of Washington D.C.-based think tank, One Korea Network, has been taking part in the weekly protest since July, according to U.S. citizens who support the rallies.

"There is great interest from passers-by and the general public," he said in a recent email interview with The Korea Times. "Even the police are tacitly in support of what we do."

One Korea Network is one of the groups that organized protests in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. The weekly protests are held between noon and 1 p.m. and several other groups also hold rallies there.

"Most Americans are aware of the atrocities committed by the CCP and many encourage and support what we do," Song said.

The CCP is an acronym of the Chinese Communist Party.

The positive feedback from the American public is encouraging for activists like Song.

However, through decades of experience as a human rights activist, Song has come to realize that rallies and protests have a limited impact on raising public awareness of China's forced repatriations of North Korean escapees.

Collective action helped activists draw the public's attention to the issue. But vocal rallies have not changed China's course of action. Beijing continues to repatriate North Korean defectors despite international condemnation of the practice.

Joel Atkinson, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said China will continue to send North Korean escapees back to the North ― this time more deliberately.

"China has repatriated thousands of North Korean refugees over decades, and will almost certainly do so with those it currently has in detention," he said. "Given how Beijing operates, it will happen little by little across an extended period of time, in a way that it is very difficult for the outside world to know about, or have clear evidence of, what is going on," Atkinson added.

A poster of the one-person show, "Sell Me: I Am From North Korea"/ Courtesy of One Korea Network

As China continues to ignore the outcries for help by the human rights activists to free North Korean detainees, some Washington D.C.-based advocates have tried a new approach to make their voices heard.

They are using arts and theater as a medium to reach out and educate a wider audience about the deadly consequences of China's forced repatriations of North Korean escapees.

One Korea Network is scheduled to present the play, "Sell Me: I am from North Korea," a solo show featuring Baek Sora, in Washington D.C.

Based on true stories of female North Korean defectors, the one-person show revolves around a 15-year-old North Korean girl, Ji-sun, who is determined to sell herself to an old Chinese man to make money to buy medicine for her dying mother. It will premiere at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center on Sep. 14 in collaboration with the Office of Rep. Carol Miller.

"We are showcasing the performance of the play to reach out to the general public using the medium of theater to educate and move people," said Song.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, torchbearer Wang Qinou runs with the torch during the torch relay of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang Province on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. Xinhua-Yonhap

While activists in the U.S. search for new ways to increase pressure on China, some activists in Seoul remain skeptical about the effectiveness of protest rallies.

An unnamed head of a Seoul-based defector group said he has no plans to hold rallies or take other types of collective action to protest China's forced repatriations of North Korean defectors.

"China has not heeded our demand. Personally, I feel frustrated whenever China turns a blind eye to our collective action," he said, asking for anonymity due to a potential backlash from the South Korean public.

Some experts advise activists to team up to launch a coordinated anti-repatriation campaign ahead of the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games to pressure Beijing to release the North Korean defectors detained in China and refrain from sending them back to the North.

"Currently, there are no binding measures that can force countries like North Korea and China to protect the human rights of North Korean defectors," said Cho Jung-hyun, a professor of international law at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

But he said there is a glimmer of hope for North Korean detainees as China will host the Asian Games this month. The Hangzhou Asian Games will take place between Sept. 23 and Oct. 8.

Cho said China would not want its brutal repatriations of North Korean defectors to dominate media coverage ahead of the sports event, which it aims to use as momentum to foster national pride and soft power.

Previously, some human rights groups launched boycott campaigns ahead of the 2008 and 2023 Summer and Winter Beijing Olympics to put pressure on China to improve its human rights track record.

Seo Jae-pyong, president of the North Korean Defectors' Association, said the Asian Games could be a factor affecting China's decision on when to send North Korean detainees back.

"China and North Korea need to agree on the timing of repatriation. If China sends them back before the Asian Games, it would draw a backlash from the international community. I think China will not want to ruin the sports event, so it will probably delay the repatriations until after the Asian Games," he said.

China tries to justify its repatriation of North Korean defectors by denying their refugee status and claiming that they are economic migrants who have illegally crossed the border. Cho said such a claim is flawed.

According to him, China's repatriation of North Koreans cannot be justified under the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

"China is a signatory of the convention. Article 2 of the convention bans member states from sending people to countries or places where they can be subject to any type of inhumane treatment," he said. "Considering that torture, executions and other types of inhumane treatment have been widely reported in North Korea, China is not supposed to send North Korean defectors back to the North."

In this photo taken in July, Henry Song, a human rights activist and director of the Washington, D.C.-based think tank, One Korea Network, stages a one-person rally in front of the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. capital, upholding a banner in English and Chinese urging Beijing to stop forcibly repatriating North Korean defectors held in China. Courtesy of Henry Song