Page 158 - Trilateral Korea Japan U.S. Cooperation

key official positions in North Korea. A North Korean escapee
who arrived in South Korea in 2020 stated that remaining
family members would be under “severe surveillance.” Mr.
Phillip Lee also noted that remaining family members will not
be able to join the KWP or attend college.

Other sources also reported that remaining family members
are typically banished to remote areas of North Korea. Ms.
Kim Ji-Eun noted that this is to make it difficult for the
escapee to establish contact with remaining family members.
She added that the remaining family members will be
completely ostracized by others in North Korea.

If China were to enact one significant change with a profound
impact on the North Korean human rights situation, that
would be halting its policy of forcibly repatriating North
Korean refugees. “Like-minded” UN member states and
international civil society should press ahead with efforts to
persuade China to grant North Korean escapees access to the
process leading to acquiring political refugee status.

Are current South Korea,
Japan and U.S. Strategies up to the Task?

After the Camp David Summit 2023, prospects for more
effective trilateral coordination on addressing the North
Korean human rights situation and the human rights-human
security-political/military nexus have improved. The three
friends, allies, and partners agreed on principles including
support for a free and peaceful unification of Korea as well as

Chapter Nine : Addressing the North Korean Conundrum 157