North Korean families torn apart as China deports defectors
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North Korean defector Kim Kyu-li is afraid for her younger sister Kim Cheol-ok, who was allegedly deported by Chinese authorities in October 2023 after living in China for decades. Her sister is believed to be among hundreds of North Koreans who were deported after North Korea reopened its borders in early 2024 following the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. Kim said she made the risky decision to publicise the plight of her sister in hopes of keeping her alive.
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What's the point in sending her back to North Korea when she has been in China for two decades. Where she's been married to a Chinese man and had a daughter. Might as well let her stay at that point. Politics.
The point is she's not a Chinese citizen
Bro she illegal immigrant
Honestly, it's terrible what's happened to these poor North Koreans, and obvs the Chinese government is doing it for politics, but I can also see North Koreans seeing this as a way to "legally" emigrate, basically sneak out, marry some Chinese local, hide for x number of years, and be given clemency. Not a bad thing for North Koreans, since it's better than starving, but it could also lead to a lot more human trafficking especially of women, like what happened to this woman's poor sister.
@@asdkotableand what’s wrong with this if the North Korean choose this path? Chinese men are outnumbered in China anyway. They need wives. China’s low birth rate will impact their economy. Seems like a win win so long as no one is forced into the situation.
@@SL-lz9jr Like the lady said, they use them for child birth since they have so many men, they're like disposable women.
I hope the sister is still alive, this is so depressing
The chance is low
Being alive in NK probably worse
No hope.
Why do people blame US for supporting Israel but no one makes noise about China supporting North Korea???
@@vitoscaletta3202 plenty of ppl have alr done that
how is crossing the river because of hunger is a sin? TELL ME KIM JUNG UN
kim jung un is a sin himself
Ask the blind illogical CCP bots defending kim.
He can't hear us over the sound of him chewing
yep, the kim dynasty has a very shallow ego and effected millions, MILLIONS of innocent people.
@@kingcoong fr
When you think your life is difficult, just remind yourself, someone out there is born in north korea.
if you defected you are a traitor. I visited north korea before, it is not as bad as people think, i see normal people are far better than alot of Americans. i visited America too. I heard in the 1990s were hard because of soviet union collapsed, china was don't well because of western sanctions etc. people should go to north korea for a holiday and see, surely they are not as wealthy as some westerners. But they are ok, i was there 3 years ago.
I am pretty sure those who visited North Korean (Tourist) are very restricted to only see the upside of North Korea (More attractive military parades, 5-stars hotel, less cars on streetwhich mean less pollution, etc.). Not what local North korean see (famine, "re-education" camp, no freedom of speech, etc.). So you may think North korea is better than US even though US has it's own downside of school shooter issue, homelessness, racism, etc. But US has upside of being the freest and developed country for many reasons (Government aren't allowed/restrict to limit freedom or speech or violate the constitution, strong international trade connection with most country and stable currency which mean strong currency, freedom of gun ownership, etc.).
Haiti is far worse Ever been to a slum in philippines?
@@michaeljonathan9715 they didn't say better Just some were like americans I've been much worse places than dprk
Gaza is the worst place
This is absolutely cruel and heartbreaking.😢
But North Korea has the right to defend itself! What do you expect?
defend its self by violating its citizen
@@zeinbanda6825 seems to be the justification US+Europe uses when Israel kills children
My friend is a defector in the mainland. I always am scared that he’ll be deported one day 😢
He better defect to either south Korea or America. China is NK lap doh
Tell him to leave china
U better hope China or north Korea doesn't read your comment otherwise you'll probably fall under investigation in order to find your friend. N maybe come after you for aiding and embedding.
He should go to other countries nearby. China is an ally with North Korea, so they will not help him.
@@pikachuthunderbolt3919 it seems it's easiest to get caught when ur trying to escape, she says it in the story. when you travel there'll be checkpoints and when there are checkpoints there will be checks...
😢 I don’t understand why N.Korea wants their citizens to stay in a country full of starvation.
Control. It's all about control.
Because if they leave, NK will have less citizens. If they stay, they can still work for the dictator until they die.
Why is North Korea a country full of hunger? Because of the imperial blockade.
It's called cultism. Kim Jung Un is a psychopath. He would rather starve his own people than look after them.
@@sirius5159 North Korea will always be a poor country because of your leader and his corrupt regime.
She is married to a Chinese man. That should make her a citizen of China or she should of applied for citizenship
That's not how it works here in China. We Chinese are extremely racists
And she has a daughter who has 23 years old.
That does not apply to Chinese citizenship unfortunately
Probably an unregistered marriage.
it doesn't work like that everywhere, you should know this lol
"How crossing a river for hunger is a sin". Says so much stuff about todays society which is in total moral obliteration. So many people are dying in the Mediterranean sea, just for a better life and a better opportunity. Same goes to USA Mexican border also China and all other countries as well.
TRUMP can tell you why: BUILD THE WALL
Freedom has its own risk.
Maybe North Korea is deliberately starving her.. cos she doesn't look very Hans.. chinese... And I think the current leader is Hans chinese or other. So... I don't know how other races ended up in North Korea.. but shouldn't she be processed.. and be maybe relocated to an area that is a lot more suitable for her.. and that she is living amongst her race ?....
Caused by the usa, reminder than south korea was even more of a dictatorship until the soviet union collapsed nk tried to open up but under american threats they cant
@@user-fx5sw1cn7jProbably why he and Kim get along so well.
Why would any country do something so evil?
ask Israel
@@user-fx5sw1cn7j Read!
@@user-fx5sw1cn7j Nope.
Ask the kim family
@@jovanlopez5284 Ok hold on I'll get right on it!!! ROTFLMAO!!!
Sadly there isn’t much she can do as North Korea is so strict when it comes to its people. It’s just sad.
my heart breaks for them
This is so hard to watch. Im so sorry and I hope your sister is still alive
I wonder what these international humanitarian agencies are doing about things like this?!😮
This is absolutely tragic and unfair!
Legally or illegally?
People are saying the sister committed a crime but what crime was it? I hear a lot of parrot information but no real concrete evidence as to why it merit deportation. I’m also surprised that this channel really reflects the reality happening in their country and not just propaganda. Thank you for giving light to those who are in need.
crossing the border from NK into China without permission is illegal
crossing the border is a crime ( However, while many people think China is too cruel to accept the North Korean, many of them committed crimes in Yanbian Korean autonomous area in 20th. Some Chinese Korean in Yanbian helped them before, but they got something bad.)
Illegal immigration
illegal imigration
Illegal immigration is a crime.
This is so sad. Where are the protesters in the universities?
They don't protests against ☭ Only against Israel because Israel isn't censoring the visuals coming out of Gaza. North Korea has a tight grip over everything happening in their country. Which is why tourism in N. Korea is heavily restricted and no tourist is allowed to wander freely without a guide. Every photo and video tourists take is then inspected before they are allowed to return to their home country. No free media is allowed inside North Korea and the citizens don't have access to the internet.
the US isnt ever going to do anything about this because north korea is a nuclear power, and the US literally is the country (along with the soviets) that caused all of this to happen
Wow this is sad
It was a given. I've watched a few interviews with defectors and they all said that China would've sent them back if they got busted before fleeing the country.
That's not what happened. They let them stay in the country because they had a purpose. Once they made plans to leave China, the authorities deported them. They were under surveillance the whole time.
This is so heartbreaking 💔
This is absolutely heartbreaking and disgusting.
Immigrants are increasingly facing harsh host responses
Difference between accepted refugees and illegal immigrants coming in. I don't know much about China and North Korean defectors so I'm not talking about them specifically, but it is the host country's right to refuse the immigrants and refugees. Can't legally send them to other countries without approval and don't want to keep them, only other option is to send them back to origin.
Why many countries deported many people who are non-citizens to their birth countries? US has deported many people back to their birth countries, China is doing the same, what about Great Britain? What about Japan? Germany? Russia? Spain? Portugal? France? Any South American country?
Oh my gosh, what a nightmare.
If you have children or know of others that take their life for granted, show them this to help them appreciate what they don’t have to go through 😢
😫
I hope that her sister is able to come to either the UK or South Korea, where she can hopefully be safe from deportation. This is so sad and awful. The number drop of defectors from 2011 to last year is terrifying. #kimcheolok #김철옥
Come on China, find it in your heart to save these people!!!
Look at America, see if you want to pay taxes to provide strangers you don't know
Open America’s border! Let all the Mexican cross!!! Why you guys block them? It’s inhumane!
@@ethanloming001China don't need to pay them food or the travel. North koreans are welcome in South Korea. The only thing China has to do is not to push defectors back to North Korea. China is not the final destination of defectors, they go there simply because the border is less patrolled and the reason why it is less patrolled is that North Korea knows that China will bring back the defectors.
@@ethanloming001 Yeah well, I spoke with my heart, but you do have a point because I am a taxpaying American.
@@rukia6090Go to China embassy in your country, then tell your opinion regarding this matter. Or why don't you tell your government to accept North Korean defectors in your country. It's 100% China's right to accept or push them back. And hopefully China build new great wall along the border. China is too soft so far toward North Koreans.
How sad!
I can’t imagine how hard this is. Very brutal ever!
Why would ccp do this?! Sending back defector to their death is already cruelsome. But sending back someone who has lived and had a daughter with a chinese man is next level cruelty.
"It's a sin to be born in North Korea." One is begging and fighting for survival while the other is choosing wines.
It's so heartbreaking. Praying for you, Kim Kyu-li, and your sister and your entire family.
this is painful to watch. My prayers are with both sisters and hope they will get to meet again 🙏
My heart goes to her , how can she suffers for no fault of hers . It’s not a sin to cross countries . The UN must take strong action against North Korea
I am so grateful that I was born in a country that prides itself on freedom. This was heartbreaking. I really hope her sister is still alive and not suffering. I wish for them to be reunited. Best of luck. I hope the UK government can help you.
Yeonmi Park should have a look at this video 😢
What is she going to do?
she is a proven liar, just look up videos exposing her
@@superpowerdragon I need to have a look at these videos then. I believed her at first when she started her interview in a park somewhere. But then as years goes by, she would come up with outrageous claims and ridiculous claims, which makes me wonder how come she keeps coming up with new torture stories? She was there for few years but she talks about the tortures as if she was there for 4 decades. And then now she has a KZhead channel. Which means she is profiting off her stories.
@@xin0 it's that she changed her escape stories several times. Using her position as a North Korean defector saying something she doesn't like gender neutral bathrooms is worse than North Korea. Plus, it hard to verify if the defector stories are truth or false, because South Korea wants to make sure of it for very obvious reasons. They even pay people to make ridiculous stories. The thing is that most North Korean defectors today left during the famine period. Where the USSR collapse thus unable to provide much needed fertilizer to grow food in a place where soils are bad. Now things are more stable in North Korea thus reducing the need of defecting.
@@penguinpingu3807 I disagree with the fact that North Koreans don't need to defect. The country is still in shambles. And still many are trying their best to leave that land. There are many videos of people trying to escape that country. One man climbed over and was shot at several times that the South soldiers had to rescue him as he lay on the floor bleeding. Another video of two women trying to escape just when the border jail was about to close, unfortunately one of the lady was not fast enough that the North soldiers held onto her and dragged her back in. Yeonmi Park is just profiting off her defect and turning it into celebrity status by coming up with ridiculous stories of North. There are many defectors now that when giving interviews, do not want to disclose their names because Internet rats of North do research and can apprehend that defector's family who are stuck in North.
Why can’t they let the ones in china leave? They want to leave.
:v imagine living quietly without socmed
"Its a SIN to be born in North Korea" That's sad and i feel her pain and fear.😢😢😢😢
Those people living in North East of China are mostly Koreans. They might have become Chinese for convince.
Fleeing to fellow Communists would result in deportation
Living in India as an Indian, everything feels quite miserable here. My country is plagued by poverty, malnutrition, and the pervasive issue of open defecation. At times, I find myself wishing I had not been born in India due to these challenges.
And yet still the Indian billionaires are spending so much on celebrities and weddings. Mankind are the worse kind of animals
Bot
you're a bot bro@@GrimReaper-1971
@@bbokari9880 yea iam the bot not the account with entire motive to hate a country well done 👍
@GrimReaper-1971 wha?
So sad
Sister is probably in a labor camp or killed
china
Read the book The Girl with Seven names you would be amazed about how people tries to leave N.Korea.
Speaking to the British parliament is one of the most useless act to do. The British is never interested in North Korean welfare, the country and its people are of little to no significance at all to the Bristish interest. Has Britain ever had meaningful engagement with the North Korean regime in the past decade ? None. Her effort to save her sister or at least brought the matter to world attention is indeed admirable. However the British will definitely disappoint her, they will do nothing for it.
Absolutely, totally agree !
"The British is never interested in North Korean welfare" - well, she is allowed to reside in the UK, most likely as an asylum seeker.
@@JN-xb6pqwell, you could stay in UK for work. She's in UK since 2007. Maybe she's a citizen long time ago.
@JN-xb6pq any strategic interest for the British government to spend meaningful resources on the North Korean regime ? I am speaking on from economics and business, there is little interest to make it a rational choice. How many are those refugees in Britain ? If you know the number, you would not be proud of it either.
@@paulmartin8299 You are walking back your original statement considerably. You said "the British is never interested in North Korea". If they are accepting any refugees (Beijing, clearly, doesn't accept any) so there clearly some interest in their welfare.
I feel so sorry, if u come to Philippines, i will let you live in our farm
Brazil vs North korea?
This is a tragedy that should not still be happening in this day and age...
😢😢😢
Why would anyone send her back there!!! It’s absurd.
Our governments are all sick.
Only the white man government
Someone at SCMP is gonna get into deep trouble for making this video🙁🙁
Why..?
Nah they are not, NED fund them.
@@amandar3467 Chinese gov sponsored newspaper criticizing Chinese gov? Someone's about to disappear...
@@alphabetagamma4142 The director of SCMP has to approve this post before posting so it's probably under legal circumstances
@@alphabetagamma4142SCMP is based in Hong Kong and owned by Jack Ma I believe.
Pyongyang known for assination. China should do better.
Why did china send her back to the prison ?!
밀입국자들은 옌볜에서 범죄를 저지르고
Because China is in relation with North Korea. China have to send back those who cross North Korea border to China illegally.
Illegal immigrants, it's common in all countries. It's just that North Korean defectees made the situation depressing and sympathetic, which is why we don't see the same for other illegal immigrants in other nations. For example, Rohingya refugees escaped from Myanmar due to the persecution of Muslims, they fled to Malaysia and Indonesia, Malaysia still allows them to enter the nation but the locals are not happy about it. Indonesia's recent issue, where locals chased the Rohingya refugees out of the country by sending them back on boats due to the increase in crime and their attitude in another nation's territory. They break the law and ruined countless people's lives. There are some cases of North Korean defectees breaking the law and was arrested, such as being addicted to drugs and gambling which they didn't get in NK. The freedom they had as refugees were exploited for their own benefit, that's why some people take illegal immigrants seriously for various reasons, even though you were tortured or imprisoned in your nation, your predecessors who arrived here and received welcome broke the bonds of trust among locals and refugees, plus, with the increase of refugees, what eill happen to the locals if these refugess took away everything?
To appease Kim
Because China already have 1.4 billion mouths to feed
As expected from China
Maybe you should take her in
Nonsense. Any Koreans crossing into China knows the Law. There is no exception. Otherwise, China will be flooded with Koreans at the border.
They learned from the best at deportations, the USA.
🙏🙏🙏 For Kyo-li and 23 yrs old daughter
Out of words..
Where is lastchang this time😂
It would be a mistake to make her name be known. When she will be back in NK, the authorities have more reason to monitor her every move that even bribery cannot work
Bold to assume she will even get as far as returning to every day life.
This is sad and all but these people knew the risk of staying in China. I literally cannot feel bad for them. AND BEFORE you accuse me of saying "they are stuck in china it's not their fault", they could have gone to live in any other southeast asian country, they could even have gone to live in latin america. Mexico is FULL of koreans and chinese, some legal and some not legal. No one forced them to stay in China so close to the danger of deportation. They were just too complacent and comfortable where they were. They only consider leaving China if they can enter a "first world" country like a America or somewhere in Europe. The world is too big a place to be stuck with such tunnel vision.
Much love to both sisters 💕
Why is crossing the river because of hunger a sin? Western civilization defined documented immigration and separate them from savages. So perhaps blame the empire where you lived in.
Woooow
North Korea is living in medieval time
When ur own citizens dont wana stay in their homeland...
#SendKimCheol-okBack!
Heartless government
In fiscal year 2023, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported over 142,000 immigrants.
This is why we have an asylum system in the UK. Not for people who just want free money but for people like this who will die unless we keep them safe. Rooting for this family SHAME ON YOU CHINA! You will reap what you sow!
Your country colonized a quarter of the world. As a result, your country is flooded with non-Brits and will soon be outnumbered by them. The UK will become the Islamic Caliphate of Britainstan. You reap what you sow.
Mexican family from the border: hello...
They should go to america. Ppl who live in countries with government politics such as north korea’s, have the highest chance of getting asylum in US
When the PRC is considered “the free country”…. that really tells you something about DPRK ! But I’m sure that Xi will get his way, and eventually get his kingdom there too. He’s trying.
Sending them back despite knowing that the deportees maybe be executed makes the Chinese complicit in their executions.
I live in China. Everything is miserable here, but no one dares to complain. Seriously if there is next life, I wish to be born in any other country, except China.
Nice fake account😂
shame on them for sending someone back who will face such a fate
They learned from the best at deporting illegals, the USA.
North Korea and China need to be held accountable.
Lol no they don’t
很多朝鲜人偷渡到中国境内,抢劫,强奸等都没有被报道。一群面临饥饿的难民很可怕。我们愿意帮助他们,但前提是自身不被伤害。
They learned from the best at deporting illegals, the USA.
Only North Korea China can’t do nothing about it because of those immigrants if you do more research the escape they did are considered a illegal immigration
If they have a child in China they shouldn't be forced back. Otherwise it's right to return them to NK. You can't just trespass and squat in someone else's land.
We are all immigrants on Mother Earth. No one owns anything or any land.
4:18 Do anythig? Switch places?
My condolences to the millions of North Koreans 🇰🇵 who lost their freedom, dignity & independent brain after being brutally crushed by the Kim Jong Un Regime which has been supported by the Chinese regime 🇨🇳
a lot of people more happy living under this "chinese regime" then in a lot of these "democratic" countries, but congratulations on the main stream media brain washing, they are doing wonders to idiots like yourself
The US has deployed many military bases and missiles in Korea, Japan, the Philippines and other colonial countries around China. But China will never allow US military bases to be deployed on its border. So North Korea is necessary even though China doesn't like North Korea either. If the US military bases do not leave South Korea, then the Korean Peninsula will never be unified and China will not allow it. Finally, what makes North Korea not free is the United States, which has imposed brutal financial, trade, material and other sanctions and embargoes on North Korea for decades. Leading to economic deterioration and environmental isolation in North Korea.
Last chang is that you
@@avariel-eu is other acc probably got banned
@@tiaoyi-bx5yi Might be some truth in it. But the concept of these military base you are talking about have a defensiv nature and are about to be new designed into even more defensive matter. There is no chance that china belives these bases are a threat to mainland china, but a threat when they try to attack these nations. And secondly: North Korea is highly militarized. Without help from outside, South Korea would be wiped out. Even if your comment is the truth, I prefer a lively South Korea.
Can you can a Kimchi Can?
yup that's the CCP
if china let them in , millions of north korean will flood into china. dillematic situation
nah man,more of those have been let go to other countries. see how assange has been treated.
Yup that's your stupidity.
@@brownjordan4964 I always read the same two or three names when the tens of thousands cases of the dictatorships are justified.
@@mauricew1769 cry more, every country deports its illegals, such as the USA and ICE
In the words of online gaming, getting sent back to NK is basically GG
dumb filipinos saying GG without knowing what it means
That’s how china communist works, treating other nations very poorly and doesn’t have sympathy. Praying for your sisters safety.
They learned from the best at deporting illegals, the USA.
In this life, we are always under the constant demand of the law. The obligation to fulfill on what humanity and existence require of us. But Christ has gone to the cross to set us free to obtain the promise that our sins are forgiven for Jesus’s sake.
Yes there are laws. If no laws, a lot of people would die
Horrible chinese government!!
Why not blame NK who does harm to their people…are you just anti-China as per western media brainwashed you
UK deport illegal immigrants to Rwandan?
They learned from the best at deporting illegals, the USA.
🙏🏻
China send one back, means 10 can stay. Because the border will be less patrolled. If China never send anyone back to NK, then no one can leave NK anymore.
I am disgusted by the Chinese government. Thank you to South China Morning Post for giving a voice to stories like this that need to be heard.
?? CIA Bot
In fiscal year 2023, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported over 142,000 immigrants.
😢😢😢😢😢😢
So, when you left NK, you didn't bring your sister with you, now you're crying because you never helped her escape NK? All of this could've been avoided if you brought her with you, or helped her escape. I sympathize with you, but seriously, what the fck did you expected? Have you ever searched for her within these 2 decades, or did you just randomly found her online?
And here in the US we complain about our Amazon delivery being 1 day late...
In fiscal year 2023, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported over 142,000 immigrants.
@@308_Negra_Arroyo_Lane That sounds relatively few, given that there are 10s of millions of illegal immigrants in the US.
When will South Korea and the US liberate the north? It's been 74 years since the Korean War. It's sad that the efforts of reunification seems to be fading😢
This is so sad
Isn't it in the Chinese region of Yanbian? majority of the population North Korea ? they who took refuge in during the Korean War There are 5 million North Korean people living here on Yanbian you can found the writing Korea is also Russia in China I think North Koreans can live in China safely & securely if he was willing to stay in kuril-sakhalin an island in Russia that with foreign national communities like Japan 2 Korea (South Korea & North Korea) China Uzbekistan Mongolia Kazakhstan the story will be different they live here obviously would likely be willing to help him. cleary why rusia it's big because eurasian.
It's true she stayed in china peacefully for so many years because back then china was run by more liberal people like Hu, deng and jiang. Like you see in the video after Kim and Xi took office defectors decreased because xi sent them back instead of turning a blind eye like hu, deng and jiang who let them stay in Jilin province near the border for decades.
A large number of them are illegal immigrants and stays. However occasionally China arrests some and send them back but obviously not all of them.
สั้น
The way they treat North Korean defectors is a measure of decency for governments in the region. I agree that China is violating the asylum institution - thus also violating international law - and has blood on their hands for hampering the transit, allowing traficking and brutal marriage, as well as sending individuals back. All of that with impunity.
You don’t think this happens in America?
@@shinbi6009 Sending defectors back who are about the be executed by the leaders? Are you confusing this with migrants?
In fiscal year 2023, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported over 142,000 immigrants.
@@shinbi6009 where did that thought come from? It seems spuriously irrelevant.
@@Sjalabais not here to debate with a neolib neckbeard incel.
Phull Sapoort saaar
Ci na ba bi bot
Please you all Here comes to India 🇮🇳
然后被强奸?🤣👉🇮🇳🦎💩
India isn't that cruel
India isn't that cruel
Bhai pehle hi hum most populous country ban chuke hai 🥹
@@pikachuthunderbolt3919 they'll be rpd by a BJP mob in India instead
Tbh I feel nothing