A group of Korean American protesters called for an end to the Chinese communist regime’s practice of repatriating North Korean defectors. They emphasized the grave consequences—including severe punishment, sexual abuse, and death—that these individuals could face upon return to their home country.
On Nov. 14, dozens of members of Korean rights groups and communities from New York and surrounding areas gathered at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza near the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, advocating for the rights of North Korean refugees and urging Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping to release the North Korean defectors detained in Chinese prisons.
The organizers of the protest said Beijing recently repatriated 620 North Korean defectors who had been held in five Chinese prisons.
‘We Must Speak Up’
“I strongly urge the Chinese government to treat North Korean defectors in a humane manner, allowing them to go to the countries where they wish to live and attain freedom,” said Kwang S. Kim, president of the Korean American Association of Greater New York (KAAGNY). This community organization serves 500,000 Korean Americans living in New York.
“I believe the U.N. should explicitly state that the actions [forced repatriation] of the CCP are wrong. The CCP should understand how crucial human rights are. We strongly demand that the Chinese government protects and grants human rights to North Korean defectors, and other countries should also express their concern over this matter,” Mr. Kim told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times during the protest.
A representative of another U.S.-based Korean rights group also condemned the CCP for forced repatriation.
“I stand with the North Korean defectors who are trapped in China. I urge the CCP not to repatriate the defectors to North Korea out of humanitarianism,” said Terence Park, president of the Asian American Voters Alliance.
“I am one 100 percent certain that they will be in life-threatening danger and subjected to torture. Their families will also be sent to labor camps, left to die slowly inside.”
According to Human Rights Watch, the North Korean regime “treats leaving without permission a crime of ‘treachery against the nation,’ punishable by death or by detention in abusive forced labor camps.”
Raymond Sung Park, the president of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council (PUAC), New York Chapter, told The Epoch Times that he regarded the protest near the U.N. headquarters as “very meaningful.”
“I feel heartbroken for them, and I hope there won’t be more people suffering like them in the future,” he said. “We must speak up for the North Korean defectors. We hope our voice can be heard by the Chinese government.”
A North Korean Defector’s Story
North Korean defector Gu Ho-in, who now resides in the United States, joined the group of protesters near the U.N. headquarters on Nov. 14.He escaped to China for the first time in February 2000 but was forcibly returned to the North.
He told The Epoch Times that he was caught by Chinese police only three days after he had arrived in China and then sent back to the North immediately.
Mr. Gu managed to avoid the death penalty imposed by the North Korean regime and successfully fled to South Korea in October 2000.
Since then, he has been actively advocating for the human rights of his compatriots. He first worked in South Korea as a rights activist for North Koreans for 12 years before relocating to the United States, where he continues to carry on with his mission. He alternates protesting in front of the North Korean Permanent Mission to the U.N. and the Chinese Consulate in New York every Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
“The CCP and the Workers’ Party of Korea are both totalitarian groups that go against humanity and human rights. I strongly protest against both of them,” he said.
