China’s forced repatriation of North Korean defectors to North Korea remains a grave threat to the lives of tens of thousands of defectors who are living in hiding across China as undocumented migrants. Estimates suggest that their number ranges from 30,000 to 50,000, while some sources estimate it could be as high as 300,000.

Although the Chinese government is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it does not recognize North Korean defectors as refugees under international law. Instead, it has consistently classified them as “economic migrants” (or illegal entrants) and has maintained a policy of detaining them whenever they are discovered. Women, who account for approximately 70% to 80% of North Korean defectors living in China, are particularly vulnerable, forced to survive while evading strict government surveillance and crackdowns. Without adequate social protection, more than 60% of female North Korean defectors are estimated to have become victims of human trafficking. Many are subjected to forced marriages with Chinese men against their will or are exploited in the commercial sex industry, including through cyber-based sexual exploitation in online spaces.Furthermore, children born from these forced marriages often face a secondary humanitarian crisis, as they may become effectively stateless without Chinese household registration (hukou). As a result, many are denied access to essential services such as education and healthcare.

The event that drew the greatest attention from the international community occurred in October 2023. Shortly after the lifting of the China–North Korea border closure, which had lasted for more than three years as part of China’s COVID-19 measures, the Chinese government forcibly repatriated approximately 600 North Korean defectors who had been detained in domestic detention facilities. The deportations were carried out simultaneously through multiple border routes, reportedly during nighttime hours. According to estimates by the United Nations, around 2,000 North Korean defectors who had been imprisoned or detained in Chinese facilities during the pandemic-related border closure period were at risk of deportation. Even after the large-scale repatriations at the end of 2023, investigations by international human rights organizations have revealed that secret deportations involving dozens of people each month have continued to take place.

Furthermore, as 2026 began, analyses released by South Korean human rights organizations indicated that the enforcement system had shifted completely from being led primarily by local police authorities to a more systematic structure directed by national-level institutions, accelerating the deportation process. The reality awaiting those forcibly repatriated to North Korea is extremely severe. Investigations by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and international NGOs have found “reasonable grounds and serious risks” that repatriated individuals face severe human rights violations, including interrogation by North Korea’s State Security Department (the secret police), forced labor in labor training camps and political prison camps, routine torture and sexual violence, and even execution. As a result, countries and human rights organizations around the world have condemned these deportations as a clear violation of the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return of individuals to countries where they face a risk of persecution.

In March 2026, the son of a North Korean female defector who was detained in China and faced the imminent threat of forced repatriation held a tearful press conference in front of the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, calling for an end to her deportation. In South Korea’s National Assembly, efforts to seek intervention from the international community also gained momentum. Today, along the 1,400-kilometer China–North Korea border, high-voltage barbed wire fences and AI-powered facial recognition cameras have been deployed, making physical escape extremely difficult. In addition, Chinese public security authorities have strengthened surveillance measures by placing informants within North Korean defector communities and offering cash rewards ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan to those who assist in identifying defectors. More than 34,000 North Korean defectors have successfully reached South Korea after risking their lives to cross the border and escape China. However, behind the political interests surrounding China–North Korea relations, many defectors who remain stranded in China continue to live under the extreme fear that they could be sent back to North Korea at any moment, where they may face severe consequences.

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