FILE PHOTO: The national flag of the People’s Republic of China. (Daily NK)
A North Korean defector in China’s Liaoning province who ran away from her Chinese husband was caught and savagely beaten by her Chinese in-laws. The woman had been trying to start a new life for herself in China after two unsuccessful attempts to reach South Korea.
A source in China told Daily NK recently that a defector in her 30s living in the city of Chaoyang was beaten black and blue after being caught trying to run away from her Chinese husband.
According to the source, the woman, identified here as “A,” had married a Chinese man after being sold to China by human traffickers in her early 20s. She was saddled with all the housework after bearing two children and was treated as more of a housemaid than a wife for the past decade.
“A” had wanted to send money to her family members back in North Korea, but her Chinese husband did not even give her an allowance. She then asked her husband for permission to work outside the house to earn money to send back home, but he refused that request as well.
Constant surveillance
Both her Chinese husband and in-laws were constantly suspicious that “A” might run away. Exhausted by relentless surveillance and control, “A” made up her mind to reach South Korea. But her two attempts, in 2023 and 2024, both ended in failure.
Afterward, “A” was watched even more closely by her Chinese husband and in-laws. At her wit’s end, “A” resolved that instead of going to South Korea, she would seek a new husband and make a new life for herself in China.
A friend set “A” up with a Chinese man who made a decent living, and the two began secretly dating in late July while exchanging messages over the Chinese messaging app WeChat.
“A’s” new Chinese boyfriend apparently promised to send money to her family in North Korea every year and to give her 10,000 yuan ($1,403) the day she left her current home.
“A” had been waiting for a chance to escape and slipped out of her house unnoticed at the end of October. But a neighbor spotted her and alerted her in-laws, who soon managed to catch her.
In villages that are home to defector women, everybody in the village keeps an eye on them. When villagers see defectors stealing out of their homes late at night or early in the morning, they assume they’re making a run for South Korea and contact their family members or report the incident to police, the source said.
According to the source, “A” is only one of many female defectors in China who have to endure the surveillance, control and oppression of their Chinese husbands and in-laws.
Female defectors cannot become legal residents of China even if they marry a Chinese man. Some attempt to reach South Korea, where legal residency awaits, but if they are caught on the journey, they run the risk of being severely beaten or forcibly repatriated by Chinese police, the source said.
Female defectors who are dissatisfied with their life in China would prefer to go straight to South Korea, but since that isn’t feasible, they try to meet new men to improve their situation in China, the source said.
As travel to South Korea grows more difficult, female defectors are being pushed closer and closer to the brink, the source added.
Read in Korean
