For the past few years, North Korean defectors have been carrying cyanide capsules, and suicides have been committed often before being sent back to the North. Repatriated defectors face harsh penalties and the family “committed suicide because they were afraid of the severe punishment” they would face in North Korea, which was revealed by one of the brokers in China who was helping them escape.
China has recently been repatriating more North Koreans seeking to resettle in the South, and increased the number of separated families and depriving them of family rights. The nations is unconditionally arresting defectors, has so far arrested 27 North Korean defectors in July. International NGOs have tried to convince the Chinese government that North Korean defectors are refugees since they satisfy the requirements of the universal definition, but no changes were to be seen. Chinese authorities refuse to discuss the legality involved and flatly maintain that they are repatriating North Korean defectors as they are not refugees. However their non-compliance to the international law is a categorical violation of Non-Refoulement principle and is utterly without defense.
The South Korean government is also responsible for deteriorating this issue by not being proactive in taking in more of these defectors from China. The ignorance and the lack of effort of the South Korean ambassadors in the Chinese embassy should be noted by the international society.