Attachments
TITLE
Existing “Nowhere”: Looking into North Korea’s Crime of Enforced Disappearance (ISBN 979-11-989878-0-8)
『존재할 수 없는 존재: 북한 강제실종범죄 조사』 (ISBN 979-11-976954-9-0)
DATE OF PUBLICATION
October 31, 2024
SUMMARY
The Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG)’s report "Existing “Nowhere”: Looking into North Korea’s Crime of Enforced Disappearance" is based on four years of research (2020-2024) to document the crime of enforced disappearance committed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).
From January 2021 to May 2024, TJWG conducted in-depth interviews with 62 North Korean escapees in South Korea. Through the interviews, TJWG collected detailed information on 66 cases of 113 victims of enforced disappearance. TJWG’s findings show that the Ministry of State Security (국가보위성 / gukgabowiseong / MSS) is responsible for 81.4% of enforced disappearances after arrest, detention and repatriation.
The report also highlights cases of enforced disappearance through various illustrations such as maps depicting transfer routes of North Korean escapees after repatriation. The process of enforced disappearance is depicted taking the case of a North Korean resident who was preparing to escape from North Korea. The scope of enforced disappearance is demonstrated in a family tree that shows an entire family, including the victim’s children and their spouses, who all went missing.
Enforced disappearances committed by the North Korean regime against its residents have been widely overlooked, creating an imbalance between low awareness of the issue and high severity of the matter. Our interviewees hope for a world in which people understand the suffering of those who were forcibly disappeared and the impotence experienced by their families and friends. They aspire for more people to join and collectively urge governments to take action.
PUBLISHER
Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG)
Seoul, South Korea
Website www.tjwg.org (Korean) / en.tjwg.org (English)
E-mail info@tjwg.org
Phone 02-722-1162
Fax 02-722-1163
Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) is a human rights documentation NGO established in Seoul in 2014 that aims to develop the best practice to address mass human rights violations and to realize victim-centered approach and justice in societies that are making a transition from or have yet to make a transition from armed conflict or dictatorship. TJWG also cooperates and shares experience with organizations and individuals who take the lead in human rights documentation and accountability for mass atrocities.
AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS
Jeonghyun Kang, TJWG Project Director
April Song-Ah Park, TJWG Documentation Officer
Ethan Hee-Seok Shin, TJWG Advocacy Director
Nina Seungju Lee, TJWG Profiler
Hubert Younghwan Lee, TJWG Executive Director
Seonghwi Cho, TJWG GIS Mapping & Data Manager
Suhena Mehra, TJWG Treasury & Communications Manager
Soogon Park, TJWG IT Systems & Digital Security Officer
KEYWORDS: North Korea; DPRK; human rights; Kim Jong Un; enforced disappearance; arrest; detention; abduction; Ministry of State Security; border guard; Defense Security Bureau; Ministry of Social Security; anti-socialist inspection group; transnational crime; China; Russia; South Korea; defection; guilt by association; religious activity; South Korean culture; transitional justice; accountability; fact-finding; United Nations; Commission of Inquiry; COI; crimes against humanity
TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Methodology
Identified Cases and Victims of Enforced Disappearance
The Definition of Enforced Disappearance and Its Continuous Nature
• Legal Definition: Deprivation of Liberty, State Involvement and Refusal to
Disclose
• Continuous Nature: A Crime that Does Not End until the Individuals’ Fate and Whereabouts are Clarified
• Preventative Measures: Due Process, Notification of Detention and Visits
North Korea’s Enforced Disappearances: Deprivation of Liberty, State
Involvement and Refusal to Disclose
• Enforced Disappearances in North Korea
- Arrest, Detention and Abduction
- Involvement of the Ministry of State Security and Other State Organs
- Lack of Notification and the Refusal to Provide Information
• Transnational Enforced Disappearances of North Korean Refugees
- China
- Russia
- South Korea
Grounds for Enforced Disappearances
• Escape from North Korea
• Attempting to Escape from North Korea
• Preparing to Escape from North Korea
• Helping Others Escape from North Korea
• Guilt by Association
• Communication and Contact with the Outside World including South Korea
• Criticism of the Kim family and the Political System
• Religious Activities
• Consumption of South Korean and Other Foreign Culture
• Others
Closing Remarks
Table 1. Demographics of 62 Interviewees
Table 2. Year of Arrest
Table 3. Victim Demographics: Age
Map 1. Region of Arrest
Figure 1. Victim Demographics: Gender
Figure 2. Perpetrating State Organs
Figure 3. Elements of Enforced Disappearance
Figure 4. State Organs Responsible for Arrest
Figure 5. State Organs Responsible for Disappearance after Arrest, Detention and Repatriation
Figure 6. Process of Enforced Disappearance in North Korea Perpetrated by MSS
Figure 7. Grounds for Enforced Disappearance
Figure 8. Enforced Disappearance Arising from China’s Repatriation and Transfers within North Korea
Case 1. Transfer Route after Repatriation from China: Victim A
Case 2. Transfer Route after Repatriation from China: Victim B
Case 3. Process of Enforced Disappearance: Victim C
Case 4. Family Tree of Disappeared Members: Victim D