Why the Seoul-Beijing divide over North Korean defectors could scupper attempts to repair ties

The South Korean government under Yoon Suk-yeol has zeroed in on the reported forced repatriation of North Korean defectors by China
The human rights issue could become a roadblock in recent attempts to restore high-level talks between Seoul and Beijing

China-South Korea relations

Seong Hyeon Choi

Published: 10:00am, 12 Nov 2023

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A public row between Beijing and Seoul over the decades-old issue of China’s reported repatriation of North Korean defectors could create hurdles for Beijing’s ties with Seoul and could further deepen uncertainties in restoring high-level talks between the two countries, analysts have said.

They added that Seoul’s different approach over the defectors issue may be a result of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s stronger emphasis on human rights in North Korea. But any substantial agreement remains unlikely given the deep divide between the positions of Beijing and Seoul.

Last month, a number of human rights groups and media in South Korea said several hundred North Koreans in China had been sent back to North Korea – reports that South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said appeared to be true.

Since then, various government officials in Seoul have repeatedly stressed the need for Beijing to protect the human rights of those people.

On Monday, South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho called on China to allow North Korean defectors to choose the country they wish to travel to, and to protect their human rights, during an event co-hosted by the ministry and Washington-based think tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

“I strongly urge the Chinese government for its coordination so that North Korean defectors in China can be protected of their human rights based on the international norm and be able to travel to the country that they desire,” Kim said in remarks read out by an aide during the keynote speech of the event.

South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho has called on China to allow North Korean defectors to travel to whatever country they wish to. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin also said after a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday that Seoul and Washington were “deeply concerned” about the forced repatriation of the North Korean defectors and pledged to strengthen international cooperation in a bid to improve human rights in North Korea.

Elizabeth Salmon, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, estimated in an October report that more than 2,000 people from North Korea, around 70 per cent of whom were women, were being detained in China as illegal immigrants.

The Ministry of Unification said it could not confirm the exact number of deported North Koreans, but forced repatriation against free will was a breach of the international norm, and it had “sternly raised” the issue with China.

The Chinese foreign ministry, however, rejected Seoul’s accusation of forced repatriation of North Korean civilians, stressing that Beijing had always handled the issue according to law and there were no “so-called defectors”.

Kang Jun-young, professor of Chinese studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, said that while the North Korean defector issue went back 30 years, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration had emphasised it in its approach to China since taking office in 2022, a move that could become a major sticking point in future China-South Korea talks.

He added the defector issue was difficult to resolve because of the difference between the two countries’ positions: while South Korea demands that North Korean defectors be recognised as refugees, China claims that they are illegal immigrants.

“South Korea’s position is that China is a signatory to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and United Nations Convention against Torture, so at least refugee status screening should be conducted first,” Kang said.

It is estimated that around 2,000 people from North Korea are being detained as illegal immigrants in China. Pictured are some North Korean refugees helped by a human rights group in 2019. Photo: Reuters

The row comes as Beijing seeks high-level talks with Seoul. During a meeting on the sidelines of the Asian Games in Hangzhou last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping told South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo that he would “seriously” consider visiting the country for the first time since 2014, according to a Korean statement.

Ramon Pacheco Pardo, an international relations professor specialising in North Korea at King’s College London, said Seoul could be focusing more on North Korean human rights in its relations with Beijing because it was not a priority for the administration of Yoon’s predecessor, Moon Jae-in.

“From the perception of the current government, the previous government focused too much on the engagement component of the policy. I think that drives the [current administration’s] focus on human rights and the perception that this is the right thing to do,” Pacheco Pardo said.

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“I think it also has to do with this idea that the government says that global politics should involve values as part of the policy, in general, not only when it comes to North Korea, but also when it comes to China.”

Pacheco Pardo said that while the forced repatriation issue would not be the core problem in the ties between Seoul and Beijing, it would add another layer of uncertainty and disagreement between the two countries that could prevent better bilateral relations.

“I think that’s something that we have to consider that adds to the many issues on which the two countries have disagreements, [such as] the South China Sea and the East China Sea,” he said.

“This prevents better cooperation and better relations between the two of them. So the issues on which both countries have problems keep piling up.”

Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said he believed the number of North Korean detainees had been increasing due to the border lockdown, and Beijing could be sending then back now to try to improve ties with Pyongyang.

“What is important here is whether or not the repatriation will continue to occur in the future. The Chinese government has been actively adjusting the repatriation depending on the political situation,” Park said.

“Political considerations mean that the Chinese government is considerate of North Korea. Because it is Pyongyang that always wants North Korean defectors back, it can be seen as meeting the North Korean government’s request and need.”