`NK Executed 3 Female Defectors in June`

North Korea is known to have executed three female defectors with South Korean citizenship late last month after kidnapping them from China.

Free North Korea Radio, a South Korea-based shortwave radio station targeting North Koreans, said Sunday that the North prosecuted the trio late last month in Onsong County, North Hamkyong Province.

“They were taken to North Korea after being kidnapped by a North Korean security team active in China while visiting China this past spring,” the report said. The three reportedly entered South Korea in September last year.

“A correspondent in Yanji, China, filed the report after hearing it from a defector from Onsong County who has stayed in China since his defection late last month,” the station said. “Since staff from the North Korean security agency is active in China, defectors with South Korean citizenship should refrain from traveling to China.”

Kim Seong-min, head of Free North Korea Radio and a defector himself, said, “The correspondent is checking the names of the women who were shot dead and the date of their execution,” adding, “The three are believed to be different from the four South Koreans Pyongyang said it arrested February 28 and was investigating.”

kyle@donga.com