Chinese authorities have resumed the forced repatriation of hundreds of North Korean defectors detained in China, a Seoul human rights group claimed Thursday, despite Seoul’s repeated calls to stop the act.

Around 200 North Korean defectors detained at a facility in the northeastern province of Jilin that borders North Korea were sent back to the North against their will on April 26, the North Korean People’s Liberation Front said, citing families of such refugees and local sources.

If confirmed, China appears to have resumed the mass repatriation of the North’s defectors after deporting around 600 defectors to their repressive home country following the end of the Asian Games in Hangzhou in October 2023.

The National Intelligence Service, South Korea’s spy agency, said it has been tracking the possibility that China could further repatriate North Korean defectors.

“The government has a stance that North Korean defectors staying overseas should not be forcefully repatriated against their will,” said an of
ficial at the unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs.

Concerns over China’s forced repatriation of such refugees have increased as North Korea started to reopen its border in August last year after it imposed strict COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020.

China does not recognize North Korean defectors as refugees and regularly repatriates those who are caught trying to defect to the North, where they can face harsh punishment.

Source: Yonhap News Agency