SEOUL—Escaping North Korea’s authoritarian regime comes at a high price. The perilous journey through China is especially punishing for many women and girls, forced to sell their bodies in their attempt to reach freedom. Some 60% of female North Korean defectors in China are trafficked into the sex trade, according to a new report from the U.K.-based Korea Future Initiative, with about half of those forced into prostitution and others sold into marriages or forced to perform cybersex acts for online viewers.

Source: Wall Street Journal May 20, 2019 08:00 UTC