North Korea’s developments have once again courted international condemnation after it executed two women, Ri (39) and Kang (43) on August 31, 2024, after a public trial that took place in Chongjin. The trial took reportedly one hour in which it was read out publicly in a busy marketplace after the execution as the women were dragged out and shot to death the same day. Gyeore’eol Unification Solidarity leader Jang Se-yul, based in Seoul, first reported this to Radio Free Asia (RFA). The two were indicted on charges of assisting North Koreans in China to escape to South Korea.
Ri and Kang were among about 500 North Koreans
Who were forcibly returned to North Korea from China in October 2023, as part of China’s continued cooperation with North Korea under their bilateral agreement. This case fits into the broader North Korean effort at suppression of defection efforts, where there are harsh prison sentences for individuals who attempt to flee and others that may aid in making a defection attempt. Altogether, nine other women who had the same charge were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Local observers, who attended the public show trial
Said it was a concise performance scripted to serve an obvious propaganda purpose. Accounts from locals reveal that several hundreds of citizens, including merchants, were made to sit through both the trial and execution held as a public warning against possible attempts at defection.
Men. Women. Both are defector targets
And in disturbingly large numbers. Many women who make it to China are forced into labor or prostitution or even coerced into marriage. International human rights organizations have rapped China over its treatment of North Korean refugees. A signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and the United Nations Convention against Torture, China continues to repatriate escapees whom they label “economic migrants” and refuses to consider their actual asylum claims. Since 2020, China has forcibly repatriated over 670 North Koreans, with the largest repatriation taking place last October.
Despite international calls, including from South Korea,
The international community demands that China stop its forced repatriation scheme and offer refuge or asylum to North Korean refugees. However, China maintains its firm policy and makes the already cumbersome process of north koreans seeking escape from their regime even more daunting.
This recent case of public execution just speaks to the extreme measures North Korea enforces in trying to control its population and curbing defection.
