NKDB wishes to address circumstances surrounding early publication of our recent report.
Our standard practice is to share forthcoming reports under strict embargo with key stakeholders and partners ahead of public release. In this instance, the report was shared with participants for an upcoming panel discussion. Through this process, Chosun Ilbo obtained a copy of the embargoed report.
When Chosun Ilbo contacted us requesting permission to publish, we clearly communicated through multiple exchanges that the report remained under embargo and was not authorised for publication until 5 March. Despite being explicitly informed the material was not for publication, they proceeded to publish.
To ensure fairness to all media outlets following this breach of embargo, we immediately lifted the embargo for all journalists.
We value our relationships with all media partners and are reviewing our embargo procedures to prevent similar situations.
Date of Release: March 3, 2026, 16:00 KST
※ For Immediate Release
Inquiry: (Email) info@nkdb.org
SEOUL, South Korea (March 3, 2026) — The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) will present new findings on March 5 identifying specific Chinese Public Security officials and regional command structures allegedly involved in the systematic forced repatriation of North Korean escapees.
Based on decades of documentation and new legal analysis, the forthcoming report concludes that these repatriations may meet the legal threshold for crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), including deportation or forcible transfer and other inhumane acts.
The findings will be presented at a seminar in Seoul attended by international human rights experts and former senior officials, including Elizabeth Salmón, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; Julie Turner, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the U.S. Department of State; and Lee Shin-wha, former Republic of Korea Ambassador for International Cooperation on North Korean Human Rights, who are expected to underscore the urgency of addressing cross-border accountability.
A Shift from Documentation to Individual Accountability
For over two decades, NKDB has documented patterns of abuse against North Korean escapees forcibly returned from China. The new report moves beyond documenting victim testimony to examining operational responsibility within Chinese Public Security organs, particularly in Liaoning and Jilin provinces, and mapping the chain-of-command structures through which repatriations are carried out.
“This research shifts the focus from abstract policy to identifiable responsibility,” said Donghwi SHIN, Human Rights Analyst and one of the authors of the report, “When officials knowingly transfer individuals to a system where torture, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearance are well documented, international law does not treat that as routine migration control. It raises serious questions of criminal liability.”
“There were women in that facility [border detention center]
who had just given birth and had their infants separated from them.
So those women were banging on the iron bars and shouting, asking to be released, wanting to see their husbands. The prison guards told them to be quiet.
When they still didn’t quiet down, the prison guards beat them with electric batons.”
(E25-I-076)
A Coordinated Repatriation System
Drawing on documentation and victim testimony, NKDB concludes that forced repatriations operate as a coordinated cross-border system rather than isolated immigration enforcement actions.
The report points to centralized command integration following China’s 2018 immigration restructuring, the use of border cities such as Dandong and Tumen as transfer hubs, and the preparation of custody transfer documents prior to handover to North Korean authorities.
According to NKDB, these practices reflect a structured and sustained apparatus.
Evidence of Official Awareness
The findings are based on 8,245 documented cases and testimonies from 96 survivors repatriated between the late 1990s and 2019.
Multiple testimonies indicate that some Chinese officials were aware that returnees faced torture, forced labor, prolonged detention, or enforced disappearance. Such evidence, the report argues, may be relevant to assessing the “knowledge” element under crimes against humanity standards.
“Everyone knows. They all know. That is why it is so upsetting—
they ask why you got caught in the first place.”
(E24-I-024)
Concerns Under Chinese Law
While Beijing maintains that it acts in accordance with domestic law, NKDB found no evidence that returnees were issued formal written repatriation decisions as required under administrative procedures.
The report concludes that the absence of such safeguards indicates systematic arbitrariness and raises further legal concerns under both domestic and international law.
Call for International Action
NKDB calls on UN member states, relevant special procedures, and governments with targeted sanctions authorities to examine the findings and assess appropriate accountability measures.
“Impunity for cross-border refoulement in the face of well-documented crimes in North Korea erodes the credibility of the international legal order,” Jian LEE, human rights analyst and co-author said. “Accountability discussions must extend beyond the territory where abuses occur and address those who knowingly facilitate them.”
The full report, The Machinery Behind the Forced Repatriation of North Koreans in China, can be found in the link below and will be made public by NKDB following the March 5 seminar.
FULL REPORT
NKDB wishes to address circumstances surrounding early publication of our recent report.
Our standard practice is to share forthcoming reports under strict embargo with key stakeholders and partners ahead of public release. In this instance, the report was shared with participants for an upcoming panel discussion. Through this process, Chosun Ilbo obtained a copy of the embargoed report.
When Chosun Ilbo contacted us requesting permission to publish, we clearly communicated through multiple exchanges that the report remained under embargo and was not authorised for publication until 5 March. Despite being explicitly informed the material was not for publication, they proceeded to publish.
To ensure fairness to all media outlets following this breach of embargo, we immediately lifted the embargo for all journalists.
We value our relationships with all media partners and are reviewing our embargo procedures to prevent similar situations.
Date of Release: March 3, 2026, 16:00 KST
※ For Immediate Release
Inquiry: (Email) info@nkdb.org
SEOUL, South Korea (March 3, 2026) — The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) will present new findings on March 5 identifying specific Chinese Public Security officials and regional command structures allegedly involved in the systematic forced repatriation of North Korean escapees.
Based on decades of documentation and new legal analysis, the forthcoming report concludes that these repatriations may meet the legal threshold for crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), including deportation or forcible transfer and other inhumane acts.
The findings will be presented at a seminar in Seoul attended by international human rights experts and former senior officials, including Elizabeth Salmón, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; Julie Turner, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the U.S. Department of State; and Lee Shin-wha, former Republic of Korea Ambassador for International Cooperation on North Korean Human Rights, who are expected to underscore the urgency of addressing cross-border accountability.
A Shift from Documentation to Individual Accountability
For over two decades, NKDB has documented patterns of abuse against North Korean escapees forcibly returned from China. The new report moves beyond documenting victim testimony to examining operational responsibility within Chinese Public Security organs, particularly in Liaoning and Jilin provinces, and mapping the chain-of-command structures through which repatriations are carried out.
“This research shifts the focus from abstract policy to identifiable responsibility,” said Donghwi SHIN, Human Rights Analyst and one of the authors of the report, “When officials knowingly transfer individuals to a system where torture, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearance are well documented, international law does not treat that as routine migration control. It raises serious questions of criminal liability.”
“There were women in that facility [border detention center]
who had just given birth and had their infants separated from them.
So those women were banging on the iron bars and shouting, asking to be released, wanting to see their husbands. The prison guards told them to be quiet.
When they still didn’t quiet down, the prison guards beat them with electric batons.”
(E25-I-076)
A Coordinated Repatriation System
Drawing on documentation and victim testimony, NKDB concludes that forced repatriations operate as a coordinated cross-border system rather than isolated immigration enforcement actions.
The report points to centralized command integration following China’s 2018 immigration restructuring, the use of border cities such as Dandong and Tumen as transfer hubs, and the preparation of custody transfer documents prior to handover to North Korean authorities.
According to NKDB, these practices reflect a structured and sustained apparatus.
Evidence of Official Awareness
The findings are based on 8,245 documented cases and testimonies from 96 survivors repatriated between the late 1990s and 2019.
Multiple testimonies indicate that some Chinese officials were aware that returnees faced torture, forced labor, prolonged detention, or enforced disappearance. Such evidence, the report argues, may be relevant to assessing the “knowledge” element under crimes against humanity standards.
“Everyone knows. They all know. That is why it is so upsetting—
they ask why you got caught in the first place.”
(E24-I-024)
Concerns Under Chinese Law
While Beijing maintains that it acts in accordance with domestic law, NKDB found no evidence that returnees were issued formal written repatriation decisions as required under administrative procedures.
The report concludes that the absence of such safeguards indicates systematic arbitrariness and raises further legal concerns under both domestic and international law.
Call for International Action
NKDB calls on UN member states, relevant special procedures, and governments with targeted sanctions authorities to examine the findings and assess appropriate accountability measures.
“Impunity for cross-border refoulement in the face of well-documented crimes in North Korea erodes the credibility of the international legal order,” Jian LEE, human rights analyst and co-author said. “Accountability discussions must extend beyond the territory where abuses occur and address those who knowingly facilitate them.”
The full report, The Machinery Behind the Forced Repatriation of North Koreans in China, can be found in the link below and will be made public by NKDB following the March 5 seminar.
FULL REPORT