Many of North Korea’s overseas workers became stranded abroad after their country shut down its borders in January 2020. While the majority of these workers returned after the government reopened some transportation routes into the country in August, not everyone has been accounted for. The family members of these “missing people” are searching everywhere for news of the whereabouts of their relatives.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK last Thursday that “while most of the workers who went to China to earn foreign currency have returned home, a few women from Pyongsong still haven’t come back. Their family members are filing complaints and petitioning the provincial people’s committee [for information], but they are at a loss with no news yet [about the missing relatives].”
The source told Daily NK that the majority of women who had left Pyongsong to earn foreign currency in China have now returned home. The family members of the women who have yet to return home were initially told by government officials that their relatives had re-entered the country, but months have since elapsed with no news.
The family members then proceeded to ask about the missing women through various channels, but when their inquiries turned up no additional information, they filed complaints and sent petitions to their municipal and provincial people’s committees in mid-November. However, party officials offered no specific information about the whereabouts of the women, simply telling the family members to just “wait and stop running around everywhere asking about [where your relatives are].”
“Party officials told families to wait and that ‘[workers] who didn’t have any issues have all returned home. If [your family member] has returned to the country but not come home, they may be under investigation for some kind of issue. We’ll look into it for you.’ But without any updates or word from the missing women, their family members can’t just sit around waiting and are going out everyday to try to find answers,” the source explained.
The family members even visited the homes of officials and Ministry of State Security agents that they had initially bribed to secure the women’s jobs in China. They gave these officials money and asked them to investigate their missing family members on their behalf.
“Last month, the family members heard that ‘if the women are still missing after everyone and their belongings have returned home, the [missing] women must have criticized the Workers’ Party or the DPRK, or committed some political crime while in China and were dragged off by the Ministry of State Security to be investigated.’ However, the family members are largely brushing off this explanation.
“Even members of the Ministry of State Security can’t give the families specific information and are just saying a lot of nothing while telling the families to give up since it’s been a few months already. Family members continue to suffer in silence. [Many of the] families have decided to visit the offices of party offices everyday for a year, three years, ten years, or however long it takes to find out why the missing women haven’t returned home.”
Translated by Rose Adams. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of sources who live inside North Korea, China and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
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