The Hidden Gulag - US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
The Hidden Gulag - US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
The Hidden Gulag - US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Hidden</strong> <strong>Gulag</strong> Second Editionprecise number of <strong>for</strong>cibly repatriated <strong>North</strong><strong>Korea</strong>ns, it is possible to know what happens tomany of those who are repatriated. Hav<strong>in</strong>g beenexposed to the relative freedom and prosperity<strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a, and completely alienated by theirbrutal mistreatment after be<strong>in</strong>g handed back tothe <strong>North</strong> <strong>Korea</strong>n police, many of those whosurvive their mistreatment flee back to Ch<strong>in</strong>aupon their release from detention and recoveryfrom detention-related illnesses and <strong>in</strong>juries. Asmall number of those <strong>North</strong> <strong>Korea</strong>ns who havefled the DPRK a second, or even third, timehave obta<strong>in</strong>ed asylum <strong>in</strong> South <strong>Korea</strong>, usuallyafter a harrow<strong>in</strong>g, months-long trek souththrough Ch<strong>in</strong>a and then further south throughSoutheast Asia, be<strong>for</strong>e fly<strong>in</strong>g to Seoul. Somedefectors go through Mongolia or Hong Kong.<strong>The</strong> stories of some of these <strong>in</strong>dividuals are toldon the follow<strong>in</strong>g pages. 103Corridors of Forced Repatriation:Pathways to Pa<strong>in</strong>, Suffer<strong>in</strong>g andViolence Aga<strong>in</strong>st Women<strong>North</strong> <strong>Korea</strong>ns typically go to Ch<strong>in</strong>a by walk<strong>in</strong>gacross the frozen river or <strong>for</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g the shallowstretches of the Tumen River separat<strong>in</strong>g Ch<strong>in</strong>afrom the DPRK. Denied the protection offeredby <strong>in</strong>ternational law, they are <strong>for</strong>cibly repatriatedby van or bus across the bridges that connect thetwo countries. 104103 For more <strong>in</strong><strong>for</strong>mation on the situation of <strong>North</strong> <strong>Korea</strong>ns <strong>in</strong>Ch<strong>in</strong>a, see “A Field Survey Report of the <strong>North</strong> <strong>Korea</strong>n Refugees<strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a,” Dr. Christ<strong>in</strong>e Y. Chang, <strong>The</strong> Commission to Help<strong>North</strong> <strong>Korea</strong>n Refugees (CNKR), December 1999, Seoul, and“<strong>The</strong> Invisible Exodus: <strong>North</strong> <strong>Korea</strong>ns <strong>in</strong> the People’s Republic ofCh<strong>in</strong>a,” <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> Watch, New York, 2002. For an expansiverecent survey, see Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, Witnessto Trans<strong>for</strong>mation: Refugee Insights <strong>in</strong>to <strong>North</strong> <strong>Korea</strong>, Peterson Instituteof International Economics, Wash<strong>in</strong>gton DC, 2010.On the Ch<strong>in</strong>ese side of the repatriation corridorsare detention facilities where the <strong>North</strong> <strong>Korea</strong>nsare held until a large enough group is collected <strong>for</strong>repatriation by bus or van. On the <strong>Korea</strong>n side of104 Interviews <strong>for</strong> this report <strong>in</strong>cluded fourteen persons repatriatedat Onsong, six at S<strong>in</strong>uiju, six at Musan, and one each atHoeryong and Hyesan. Reportedly, there are also repatriations atManpo, and small numbers of repatriations at Rason, Saebyol, andSamjang, but no repatriated persons from these places were locatedor <strong>in</strong>terviewed <strong>for</strong> this report.118
Change language