Some 120 North Korean workers from a garment factory in Dandong, China, were repatriated to North Korea on Sept. 30. The unexpected deportation by Chinese authorities has strained relations between Beijing and Pyongyang.
Those repatriated included about 100 female workers who made garments and another dozen or so officials who managed them.
The North Korean workers received their deportation orders from authorities in China on Sept. 29 and all returned to North Korea the next day, sources said.
The incident was triggered by a female worker who disappeared from her workplace.
The woman wandered around Dandong after leaving her workplace in mid-September. Prior to the incident, she reportedly had difficulty communicating with co-workers and exhibited cognitive difficulties.
It remains unclear whether these problems were present when the woman was assigned to work in China, or whether they manifested themselves over the course of months spent largely in confined spaces.
After leaving her factory and dormitory, the woman spent a day wandering the streets of Dandong. She walked as far as the railway bridge over the Yalu River, about 15 kilometers from the factory, and the next day entered a North Korean restaurant called Songdowon in downtown Dandong.
North Korean restaurant workers informed state security agents about the woman, who was speaking incoherently, and the agents replied that they had been looking for her.
The problem was that the garment factory where the woman had worked had already reported her disappearance to the Chinese police, who had been tracking her through video feeds from security cameras installed throughout the downtown area.
As a result, the Chinese police detained the woman and investigated the incident. A week later, the police ordered not only the woman but all the North Korean workers and managers at her factory to return to North Korea immediately.
“The decision was made to repatriate the entire contingent at the factory, including the managers, because of their negligent management of the workers. The rationale was that allowing North Koreans to roam around Chinese cities could have a negative impact on public safety,” a source said.
North Korean officials in China “blindsided”
The North Korean consulate in China was blindsided by the incident. In response, the consulate organized an emergency five-day conference for managers of North Koreans working in the country.
“Our relations with China are not so good right now. Since we’re here in China, we have to make sure we abide by Chinese law,” consulate officials said during the conference.
“Everyone was surprised when the Chinese authorities suddenly deported this group of North Korean workers. Some say this incident seems to confirm that relations between Beijing and Pyongyang are rocky at the moment,” another source in China told Daily NK.
The Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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