A North Korean defector woman was murdered by her Chinese husband in rural Liaoning province, with the killer facing no legal consequences. The case has sparked outrage among the defector community in China.
The victim, a woman in her 30s from North Korea’s Ryanggang province, was beaten to death by her husband, an ethnic Korean Chinese national in his 50s, after he discovered her plans to escape to South Korea. When she resisted the beating, he attacked her with a knife, killing her on the spot.
The woman had defected in 2010 and was sold through a human trafficker into a forced marriage with the man. During her years in China, she endured constant domestic violence while performing hard agricultural labor. “She worked in the fields all day under her husband’s surveillance and abuse,” a source in China told Daily NK recently. “Despite the severe treatment, she endured it to send money to her family in North Korea.”
After years of abuse and a life without hope, she planned an escape to South Korea with another defector. Her attempt to leave triggered the fatal confrontation with her husband.
Following the murder, the husband buried her body on a hillside behind their home. He eventually turned himself in to police after rumors of her disappearance began circulating among her acquaintances in the defector community.
However, Chinese police released him without detention or proper investigation, prompting anger from local North Korean defectors. “How could they release someone who confessed to murder?” the source asked. “They protected him simply because he’s Chinese and she was a North Korean defector.”
The case highlights the precarious legal status of North Korean defectors in China, who are considered illegal immigrants and lack basic protections. “They live in constant fear of deportation back to North Korea,” the source explained. “Even attempting to reach safety in South Korea, as this woman tried to do, can have tragic consequences.”
The incident has deepened fears among North Korean defectors in China about their vulnerability to abuse and violence without legal recourse.
Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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December 16, 2024 at 12:30PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)