Are North Koreans ‘free’ after they defect? | NK News
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September 27, 2026Sep 27, 2026

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Are North Koreans ‘free’ after they defect?

Scholar’s study raises questions about resettlement, ‘buying’ defectors’ freedoms

There is great concern about the freedom of North Koreans, and this has led many to go to great lengths to help them defect via an “underground railroad.”

But are they truly free when under the supervision of those watching them, especially when it involves supervision from those with religious motives, and a long resettlement process when they arrive?

Ju Hui Judy Han, assistant professor of geography at the University of Toronto, asks some hard questions in her recent publication in Critical Asian Studiesabout not only this subject, but how the defectors are freed – often, its by