Defectors and activists urge Canada to do more for North Korean asylum-seekers
North Korean defectors and activist group (FSI) highlight the severe human rights violations faced by North Koreans, urging the Canadian government to provide stronger support for North Korean asylum seekers (Image: Carleton University)
Defectors from North Korea and activists who help them settle in South Korea and other countries have asked the Canadian government to more actively support asylum-seekers from North Koreans.
In a meeting with Canadian government officials, Casey Lartigue Jr., co-founder of Free Speakers International (FSI), asked Ottawa to commit to supporting defectors instead of sending aid to the North Korean government.
“Canada needs to prioritize asylum claims from North Korean refugees,” Lartigue said.
He noted that before COVID-19, Canada had been one of the countries that deported North Koreans on the grounds that they had already applied for asylum in South Korea. As a result, the number of North Korean refugees in the country fell from 980 in 2016 to 775 in 2021.
“Canada could take the lead on this by offering a six-month visa exemption to the refugees before they decide where to settle,” he said.
Lartigue was leading an FSI tour earlier this month with a number of defectors who related their harrowing stories of suffering and escape to Canadian audiences.
Defectors Lee Na-young, Kim Myeong-hee, and Kim Dong-jae shared their stories at universities, met with the general public, and presented before government officials in Ottawa and Manitoba.
Meeting on October 7 with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development, known as Global Affairs Canada, they raised awareness about the severe human rights abuses, the exploitation of overseas workers, the plight of North Korean women in China, and China’s forced repatriation of defectors.
Kim Dong-jae, 41, testified about forced labor in Russia. “When I arrived there, Russians called us the mafia”, he said. “At first, I didn’t grasp what they meant. A Russian explained to me, ‘You have to do whatever Kim Jong-un orders, whether it’s illegal or involves death. That’s what people call the mafia.’ Hearing this made me realize that our situation was no different from slavery.”
Kim said that North Korean construction workers in St. Petersburg had to work 18 hours a day under harsh conditions, often eating pig skins, which are considered dog food in Russia.
“When Russian workers saw us bringing pig skins onto the site, they asked if we raised dogs,” he said.
Kim testified that the workers were paid the equivalent of just one month’s wages after working for five years. Although the official monthly pay was almost $3,000, the regime confiscated it entirely and finally paid each person around $3,000 on their return to North Korea.
Lee Na-young, 38, and Kim Myeong-hee, 41, testified about their experience in North Korea and China after their escape and before entering South Korea.
“When I was 17, I was sold to an elderly Chinese man,” Kim said. “I became pregnant several times and was forced against my will to have abortions.”
CBC, Canada’s national broadcaster, featured the meeting with students in Manitoba.
In an interview, Lee Na-young testified about her life in North Korea.
“I had no idea what I wanted or what my life was for,” she said. “The only purpose I had was to avoid hunger. After eating breakfast, I worried about lunch. After lunch, I had to worry about dinner. I was constantly tormented by hunger. I was living like an animal.”
Lee condemned China’s forced repatriation of defectors. “The Chinese government knowingly participates in murder this way. They are fully aware the women sent back will face forced abortions, torture, and death from malnutrition.”
An estimated 2,000 North Korean women are currently in Chinese prisons and risk being repatriated at any moment.
- 600 escapees repatriated from China are sentenced to life in the gulag
- Hundreds of North Korean Defectors Repatriated by China Face Miserable Fate
“A permanent member of the United Nations Security Council should never engage in such conduct,” Lee said.
The delegation also held meetings and tours in Winnipeg’s markets and streets to promote awareness of North Korean human rights and the plight of defectors.
FSI’s trip was sponsored by South Korea’s Ministry of Unification. Michael Campbell, a Canadian citizen and PhD student in London, played a leading volunteer role in arranging the trip.
The nonprofit organization, co-founded in 2013 by Lartigue and South Korean Lee Eunkoo, empowers North Korean refugees to engage in public speaking in English.
“FSI was founded to assist defectors settling in South Korea,” Lee said. “Over the past 12 years, we have worked with more than 600 defectors, published four books by defectors, held 20 English speech contests, and organized about 90 other speaking events.”
One well-known defector associated with FSI’s programs is Park Yeonmi, who is now a human rights advocate in the United States.
Zane is a defector from North Korea. Before defecting in 2022, he worked at a state-run North Korean company based in Russia. Prior to his assignment in Russia, he had worked at the external affairs department of a company affiliated with the DPRK's Escort Bureau. He graduated from Pyongyang University of Architecture.
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