At a press conference on the 24th, harsh violations of the human rights of North Korean defectors in China were once again on display.
Speaking at the event to support a new book of interviews done between May and August this year by Democracy Network against North Korean Gulag, ‘The Conditions for Defectors in China’, three defectors, Oh Seon Young, Cho Hyo Mi and Lee Min Sun, revealed the human rights abuse they experienced first-hand.
Kim Tae Jin, the director of Democracy Network, said in his introductory remarks, “North Koreans sent back home from China are not a recent occurrence. Our Korean daughters are being sold to the Chinese people.”
More than half of respondents in the survey (51%, 64/126 people) said they had experienced human trafficking. Among them 45 respondents said that the Chosun people were involved in the trafficking.
Among the most revealing sections of the testimonies were the following;
Lee Min Seon (resided Heilongjiang Province, China, 2003-2009)
“I defected to China with my young son. I had no choice but to defect to put food on my table. To raise my son I had to marry a Chinese man, but he was mentally ill and did not work. He sometimes had difficulty recognizing people. I was almost beaten to death.
He and I had a daughter together but my son and daughter were both stateless. I wanted to send them to school but could not because they were not registered in the family register. The government charges those who are not registered but I had no money to pay for the fines so I sent my children to a church orphanage run by a Korean pastor. I went to check on them because I heard they were not eating or sleeping well but I was caught by the police because my husband reported to them where I was.”
Oh Seon Young (resided Jilin Province, China, 1998-2008)
“I did not receive proper wages in China. I only received about 1/3 of my wage. I begged for money from people picking up stones around the Tumen River, thinking they were South Koreans. The Chinese people did everything they could to sell me and my daughter. I was beaten up and lost seven teeth for not going for a date with one Chinese man.”
Cho Hyo Min (resided Jilin Province, China, 2001-2007)
“I left for China to pay back my brother’s debt. Someone told me I would be able to pay back the debt if I work in China for three months so I married a Chinese man. My Chinese husband told me he would send money to North Korea if we had children and so I did but my husband did not keep the promise. He said he would after the harvesting period but our economic situation was not good.
We made money breeding pigs and chickens. We wired some to North Korea and also spent some ourselves. As our life got a little better the Chinese people around us were jealous. The Chinese hate it when North Koreans come to China and make money. They told the police on me and I was arrested and sent back to North Korea.”
