China's facial recognition tech leads to drop in N. Korean defectors

U.S. Congressman Christopher Smith speaks during a hearing on North Korean Refugees and the Imminent Danger of Forced Repatriation from China held in Washington, D.C., Tuesday (local time). Rep. Smith and Sen. Jeff Merkley co-chaired the hearing. Yonhap

US lawmakers urge UN, international community to team up to stop China's imminent repatriation of North Korean defectors

By Kang Hyun-kyung

China has played a critical role in a sharp drop in the number of North Koreans fleeing their home country after the pandemic, according to experts.

Hanna Song, the director of international cooperation at the Seoul-based nonprofit, nongovernmental organization Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, said Beijing has used advanced technology tools to repress its people and North Korean escapees in China.

"China's increasing use of advanced technology, such as facial recognition and biometric systems, has become a repressive weapon targeting the most vulnerable," she said during a hearing titled North Korean Refugees and the Imminent Danger of Forced Repatriation from China, hosted by the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Tuesday (local time), in Washington, D.C.

"This includes North Korean refugees as well," Song added.

The hearing was held after a March report by The Korea Times raised concerns about China's possible mass repatriations of North Korean detainees back to the North, and a follow-up interview in April with U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim where he confirmed the U.S.' continuous diplomatic efforts to pressure China to scrap its forced repatriations.

Song said the technology enables the monitoring of people being trafficked in China, leaving no room for anonymity and invisibility and make it extremely difficult for North Korean defectors to avoid repatriation.

Ethan Hee-seok Shin, a legal analyst at Transitional Justice Working Group, also voiced concerns about China's use of technology as a tool to repress its people as well as North Korean defectors.

Their remarks hinted that together with the North Korean regime's tight border control since the coronavirus pandemic, including a shoot-on-site order, China's use of technology as a tool of repression also contributed to a sharp decrease in the number of North Korean defectors since the outbreak.

Two U.S. lawmakers, Rep. Christopher Smith and Sen. Jeff Merkley, co-chaired the hearing to figure out possible diplomatic and policy options that can help prevent China from repatriating nearly 2,000 North Koreans.

The number of North Korean detainees in China has soared after the pandemic due to the North's border closure.

The U.S. lawmakers and witnesses who attended the hearing expressed concerns that the North Korean detainees are in danger of imminent repatriation, because Pyongyang is expected to reopen its border with China soon.

They said that the international community should increase pressure on China to stop the decades-long brutal practice of sending North Korean escapees back to their home country where they will face torture, beatings, sexual violence, forced abortions and death.

"We have good reason to believe that such repatriations are imminent, as North Korea reopens its border following an extended closure in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic," Rep. Smith said during the hearing. "I share this with deep concern."

Lee Jung-hoon, dean of the Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University, who previously served as South Korea's ambassador-at-large for North Korean Human Rights, regretted that there has been no progress over the past decade in stopping China from sending North Korean defectors back to the North against their will.

Lee urged the United Nations and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Beijing to seek a more active role to pressure China to stop repatriating the North Koreans.

Robert King, former U.S. special envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, speaks during a hearing on North Korean Refugees and the Imminent Danger of Forced Repatriation from China held in Washington, D.C., Tuesday (local time). Yonhap

Robert King, former U.S. special envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, said the United States, South Korea and other members of the international community need to keep working hard to increase pressure on China to stop the inhumane practice.

He said it would take time to see progress made in the issue, stressing that it will not happen overnight.

King said Beijing is ignoring mounting calls by the international community to stop sending North Korean escapees back to the North, partly because China wants to have the North serve as a buffer against the West.

"They are more comfortable having North Korea on their border than a democratic open society like South Korea," he said. "But I think there is another thing as well. The Chinese are concerned about their own internal situation," he said.

King said allowing North Koreans to live freely and be able to make decisions on their own is something it does not want to allow inside its borders.

"They are also concerned about the example that might show," he said.

King made the remarks when Sen. Merkley asked why China is so resistant to facilitating the passage of North Korean defectors to South Korea or other countries in the region.

The U.S. lawmaker said the international community's efforts to stop China's repatriation of North Korean defectors would become more difficult and complicated if Beijing is worried about the implications on their nationals in the event of halting those steps.

Participants at the hearing also addressed the dire human rights conditions of North Korean escapees in China.

Rep. Smith said 80 percent of female North Korean escapees in China become victims of human traffickers who exploit them in the lucrative sex industry.

"It is believed that illicit sex trafficking generates $105 million annually for North Korean and Chinese criminal networks," he said.

During the hearing, Song presented two satellite images provided by Seoul-based nonprofit group, NK Pro, which show the expansion of detention centers in China. One was taken in 2019, and the other after the pandemic. Images taken after the pandemic show new fencing and additional facilities in one of six detention centers believed to hold North Korean escapees.

Activists hold a rally in central Seoul to urge China to stop repatriating North Korean defectors back to the North in this July 2022 photo. Korea Times file

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