North Korea: Propaganda and China’s ‘red zone’

While Kim Jong Un continues to de-emphasize his father’s legacy (as reported by NK News on 4 April 2023), North Korean women in China remain particularly vulnerable to abuse.

World Watch Research analyst Thomas Muller comments: “The adaptations which Kim Jong Un is making to state propaganda are gradual, taking place over a significant period of time, and do not really affect the lives of citizens. In contrast, a recent report by NGO Global Rights Compliance shows how shockingly vulnerable North Korean women and girls in China have become (DW, 27 March 2023). Having been helped across the border to China, these refugees are prone to become victims of human trafficking, sexual abuse and even slave-like conditions. This is especially true for the northeastern provinces of China (in the report referred to as the ‘red zone’). These are lawless zones for such women, a number of whom have become Christians. Meanwhile, numbers suggest that a mere 34 escapees made it from North Korea to the South in the first three months of 2023, far fewer than before the pandemic (NK News, 25 April 2023).”