Dozens of North Korean defectors ‘vanish’ after being caught by secret police: report

More than 100 North Koreans have gone missing after being caught by secret police while trying to defect from the isolated country or even for trying to call relatives in South Korea, a Seoul-based human rights group said on Thursday.

The Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) released a report detailing patterns of enforced disappearances through its study based on interviews with 62 North Korean escapees in South Korea.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have defected in the decades since the Korean war ended in 1953 with an armistice, with many of those caught or repatriated sent to prison camps or other detention facilities before being released.

The group identified 113 people in 66 disappearance cases, including the cases in an archive run with other international organisations, as well as maps depicting transfer routes.

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Of the 113, 80 per cent, or 90, were arrested inside North Korea and the rest in China or Russia, with about 30 per cent disappearing since leader Kim Jong-un took power in late 2011.

Almost 40 per cent of them went missing after being caught trying to flee the country, while 26 per cent took responsibility for another family member’s crime. Nearly 9 per cent were accused of being in touch with those in South Korea or other countries.