The United States Department of State designated North Korea in 2019 as one of the world’s worst perpetrators of human trafficking for the nineteenth consecutive year. Those who desire to escape from forced labor and human trafficking in North Korea mostly head to China.
When they flee North Korea, they have high hopes to reach freedom only to be captured by human traffickers who lie in wait, in some cases right across the border. An estimated 74.6 percent of North Korean defectors become victims of human trafficking in China.
The situation is worse for female defectors, who are a majority of the defector population in South Korea and China. After getting married, North Korean women are usually not required to work in formal government-mandated employment, which makes running away easier. Consequently, more women than men defect and are subsequently trafficked.
China’s flourishing sex trade is a major reason why women fall prey to trafficking.
Deceived and Sold: How China Treats North Korean Female Defectors https://t.co/LeutvmEpOP via @ProvMagazine @EugeneK83804531
— Jihoon Lim (@JihoonLim1) October 2, 2019