Tag: defections
North Korea remittance broker fees jump to 50% amid crackdown
North Korean authorities have sharply intensified crackdowns on illegal money transfers made using Chinese mobile phones. Remittance brokers near the country's border say their...
Residency ID rumors spark hope for North Korean defectors in China
Rumors that China may soon issue permanent residency ID cards to North Korean defectors are spreading rapidly across the country's northeast. The rumors have...
Missing relative sinks North Korean official’s shot at working in Russia
A North Korean trade official spent months preparing for a work assignment in Russia. Then, this month, he was disqualified at the final stage...
North Korea revises criminal procedure law, mandates defense counsel
North Korea revised its criminal procedure law in 2022 and again in 2025. The changes shortened detention and investigation periods. They also required defense...
North Korean soldiers in Ukraine face forced return — a civilian...
The sky over Kyiv hung heavy and gray during the days I spent in Ukraine's capital. Standing before the outer wall of a prisoner...
North Korea orders shoot-to-kill at border, coordinates defector tracking with China
North Korea's National Intelligence Agency, the country's primary domestic intelligence agency formerly known as the Ministry of State Security, has issued sweeping new directives...
North Korean defectors in China alarmed as Kuaishou messages reach police
Chinese authorities are monitoring North Korean defectors through Kuaishou, a popular Chinese short-video and messaging platform, raising alarm among defectors hiding in China.
According to...
China recruits North Korean defectors as informants to trap escape brokers
Chinese police are recruiting North Korean defectors living in China as informants and using them to infiltrate defector escape networks, leading to the arrest...
When one North Korean defector disappears in China, police round up...
Chinese police have sharply intensified surveillance of North Korean defectors living in China, summoning and interrogating entire social networks whenever a single individual goes...
North Koreans in China gripped by repatriation fears as bilateral ties...
North Koreans living in China without legal status are growing increasingly anxious as signs emerge of a broader thaw in relations between Pyongyang and...
