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

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North Korea as seen from the Chinese border town of Tumen in eastern Jilin province. Attempts to repair relations between Seoul and Beijing could be damaged as South Korea calls out China over its reported repatriation of North Korean defectors. Photo: Kyodo News via AP

Published: 10:00am, 12 Nov 2023

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.