South Korean lawmakers of the International Parliamentarians’ Coalition for North Korean Refugees and Human Rights on Wednesday called on North Korea to clarify the whereabouts of two North Korean men who were forcibly repatriated in 2019 after their defection was denied by South Korea.
In a joint statement, Reps. Ha Tae-keung, Ji Seong-ho, Hong Suk-joon and Hwangbo Seung-hee of the ruling People Power Party said that more than three years since the men were returned against their will, North Korea has refused to respond to inquiries from the United Nations about their fate.
For the first time, the two North Koreans were identified as Woo Beom-sun and Kim Hyun-wook by the four lawmakers. According to the lawmakers, both are from Cheongjin, a city in North Korea’s Hamgyong Province, and should be about 25 to 26 years of age if they are still alive.
The lawmakers said they decided to disclose their identities to prompt efforts from North Korea to provide information about the whereabouts and conditions of the two deportees.
“We ask North Korea to confirm if Mr. Woo Beom-sun and Mr. Kim Hyun-wook are alive and well. These are pressing questions that must be answered if North Korea wishes to redeem its reputation as the country with the world’s worst human rights abuses,” they said.
In the same statement, the lawmakers accused the South Korean government of violating the principle of non-refoulement and the international prohibition of torture. They said investigations were underway into possible wrongdoing on the part of South Korean authorities who were in charge at the time.
After circumstances suggesting an involuntary return were exposed by the South Korean press, North Korea human rights experts have said the two men likely faced abuse upon being turned over to North Korean authorities.
In an Aug. 29 letter addressed to Elizabeth Salmon, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in North Korea, the Transitional Justice Working Group said, “The life and well-being of the two repatriated North Korean escapees should be paramount.”
The group said it’s speculated the two North Koreans “were disappeared, tortured and executed without due process or fair trial” there, and that the North Korean government “will ignore calls for clarification.”
“Unfortunately, the South Korean government has never asked North Korea to reveal the fate and whereabouts of the two persons, whose names remain anonymous,” it added.
Phil Robertson, the deputy director of the Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, said in a statement on Nov. 12, 2019, that, “Returning these two men to North Korea was illegal under international law because of the likelihood they’ll be tortured under North Korea’s extremely brutal legal system.”
The delegation of South Korean lawmakers began their six-day trip to the US on Tuesday. Over the trip they are due to attend the biennial convention of the international parliamentarians’ coalition in Washington D.C. on Thursday and speak with US authorities on North Korea human rights.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Ha, who is leading the delegation, said he and the three lawmakers on Tuesday met with US Under Secretary Uzra Zeya. Ha said at the meeting they pleaded for a swift appointment of a special envoy for North Korea human rights issues at the US Department of State, a position that has remained vacant since January 2017.
The delegation has said the main agenda of their trip was truth-seeking and justice efforts in the deportation of two North Koreans in November 2019 and the murder of South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official, Lee Dae-jun, in September 2020.
Lee’s older brother, Lee Rae-jin, is on the trip with the delegation to speak at Thursday’s convention.
Lee and the delegation are planning a visit to the office of the Permanent Mission of North Korea to the United Nations in New York on Friday to deliver the family’s second letter to Kim Jong-un. In July last year, the Lee family sent an open letter to the North Korean leader asking for the return of his remains.
By Kim Arin (
arin@heraldcorp.com)
