The precise identity of an officer at a North Korean detention center who is suspected of beating a pregnant woman to death has been made public by North Korean Human Rights Record Depository (hereafter ‘Depository’), which released the identity of the man on the 2nd as part of ‘North Korea Human Rights Incident Report, No.1’.
According to the information available, the case involved 19-year old detainee Kim Ryeon Hee, who was killed at Nongpo Detention Center by the officer, Chae Myung Il, in March, 2009.
The deceased, who hailed from within the jurisdiction of No. 18 People’s Unit in the Yeonjin district of Chongjin, was apparently forcibly repatriated to North Korea from China, according to an anonymous witness currently residing in South Korea.
The report explained that thereafter, “Even though she was a pregnant woman at the time, Kim Ryeon Hee was forced to work, and while doing so was caught eating dried corn by Chae Myung Il the prison guard, who then kicked Kim hard in the stomach”.
“The prison guards knew at that time Kim was pregnant,” it went on. “She was beaten and died of excessive bleeding on the way to the hospital. Although where Kim was in her term is uncertain, you could tell she was pregnant just by looking at her.”
While the Depository has been publishing reports on human rights problems monthly by category and type for a number of years, this is the first time it has deliberately revealed the personal information of a single assailant.
Since North Korea strongly opposes outside interference in its human rights situation from the international community, typically replying with a stone wall and righteous indignation, the response to the report is being closely watched, notably since North Korea currently wants to expand economic exchanges with the European Union (EU) and the U.S., and as such it is obvious that the ‘Chae Myung Il incident’ could cause problems for Pyongyang.
The Depository plans to release reports 2 to 3 times a month and unveil suspected assailants on its homepage at http://nkdb.org.
