Page 133 - Trilateral Korea Japan U.S. Cooperation

they economically harmed, but Japanese families were forced
to obey the North Korean government and the General
Federation of Trade Unions of Korea, simply because their
families had been taken hostage by North Korea.

Requests for Relief from North Korean Defectors and
Japanese Families

In the late 1990s, North Korea suffered from extreme
food shortages due to repeated errors in economic policy,
particularly agricultural policy, and this, combined with
irrational distribution policies, led to widespread starvation.

To avoid starvation, an increasing number of people fled to
China in search of food. Some returned to North Korea once
they obtained food, where their families were waiting for
them. However, many did not return to North Korea, where
they lacked the conditions to survive. Instead, they tried
to hide in China or flee to South Korea or other countries.
The Chinese government uniformly regards defectors as
smugglers, detains them, and deports them back to North
Korea. North Korea treats North Korean defectors as serious
criminals and persecutes them in ways that would not be
tolerated in a free modern society. They may subject them to
barbaric assaults to force them to confess to their actions in
China, imprison them in political prison camps if they have
contact with Koreans or religious officials or if they attempt
to defect to South Korea. They may force pregnant women to
undergo abortions by beating them in the lower abdomen. The
Chinese government is aware of the barbaric actions of the

132 Section II : Human Rights, Abductees, Forced Repatriation of Refugees and the Regional Implications