The U.N. special envoy for North Korean human rights sent a letter to Beijing last year seeking information about the well-being of a DPRK citizen detained in China, amid concerns about the arrest and forced repatriation of defectors in the country.

In the letter sent on Dec. 28 and uploaded on the U.N. human rights office website last week, special rapporteur Elizabeth Salmon inquires about the health of a North Korean who she says was arrested “at an acquaintance's house” in June 2021.