Who Are the People We Rescue?

Read about the North Korean refugees the Rescue Fund has helped rescue.

​The Difficult Journey to Freedom

 When they flee North Korea, refugees encounter many challenges because they often have no money, no knowledge of direction or routes, and no means of communicating and blending in with people from outside countries. 

It is estimated that 50,000  North Korean refugees are hiding in China. In China, North Korean escapees often fall victim to egregious human rights violations, as the Chinese government considers them illegal economic migrants, not political refugees. Because of this, the Chinese police force actively searches for and repatriates North Koreans. Once repatriated, the refugees face torture, long sentences in prison, and sometimes even execution. 

Many North Korean refugees become victims of human trafficking. North Korean girls and women are often sold like slaves into sex trafficking or as brides. Men and children are forced to do hard labor and are defrauded of their wages as Chinese employers threaten to turn them into to Chinese authorities.

It takes some refugees up to 10 years to reach South Korea. Between 1,000 - 3,000 North Korean refugees arrive in South Korea every year. Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR) and other groups help these refugees safely arrive through various international routes that are being called the modern "underground railroad."
The mother of a refugee at risk of repatriation demonstrating outside the South Korean Ministry of Unification to help save her child (Nov. 2015).  Learn more about her.

Escape Routes

1. Cross the northern border of North Korea to China 
The Tumen and Aprok (Yalu) rivers divide North Korea and China.  Most North Koreans who escape must swim or run across one of these rivers to reach China. The rivers are under heavy surveillance. Many North Koreans drown, freeze, or are captured or shot.
 
2. Travel undetected through China and on to a third country 
After reaching China, North Korean refugees typically take one of two routes to reach a "safe" third country.
  • ​Route 1:  Yanji or Changbai, China → Shenyang, China →    Kunming, China →  Mekong River → Laos or Thailand
    • Method of transportation:  bus, train, car, boat, on foot
    • Distance covered: 10,000 km
    • Dangers:  severe fatigue from trekking through the Southeast Asian jungle; crocodile attacks and dangerous conditions in the Mekong River; repatriation by China, Vietnam or Laos.​
  • Route 2:                                                                       Yanji or Changbai, China → Inner Mongolia, China → ​Gobi Desert → Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
    • Method of transportation:  bus, train, car, on foot
    • ​Distance covered:  8,000 km
    • Dangers: death by dehydration or hypothermia in the Gobi Desert; getting lost in the vast Gobi Desert; repatriation by China.
3. Arrive at a South Korean embassy
Once in Mongolia, Thailand, or Laos, North Korean refugees are able to reach a South Korean embassy.  The South Korean embassy then arranges their travel to South Korea.
Telephone  +82-2-723-1672, 2671   Office Address  Gonghwadang Bldg 10th fl, 7-2 Chungjeongro 2-ga, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul  South Korea (120-012)  
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