On June 23, 2023, UPI published an article stating that the head of South Korea's National Human Rights Commission, Song Doo-hwan, urged China not to repatriate thousands of detained North Korean escapees upon the reopening of borders.  Hanna Song, the director of international cooperation at the NKDB, echoed these concerns, emphasizing the grave threats these escapees would face, such as torture and execution if returned to North Korea. The article also highlights the dire conditions and lack of adequate medical care in Chinese detention centres, raising further concerns about the well-being of the escapees.

"The most commonly reported cases of torture are linked to those who have been forcibly repatriated from China to North Korea, and so that's the most obvious thing that we are fearing will happen," Hanna Song, NKDB's director of international cooperation, told UPI.

Song added that the conditions in the Chinese detention centers are also a source of concern.

"We assume that China is not providing [the escapees] with the necessary medical treatment, and they are probably also malnourished," she said. "When they are in such a weak state, if they are forcibly repatriated and are going into even worse conditions, that is something that we would remain very concerned about."

To read the full article, please visit the UPI website, HERE