North Korean defector Park Kyung-hwa, who fled in 2000, said she saw brokers grope other trafficked women many times. The defectors say they deserve international attention because their plight was primarily caused by the North’s abysmal rights conditions and by China’s policy of repatriating North Korean defectors who are caught hiding in the country. Bride trafficking of North Korean women may have eased in recent years, but thousands of North Korean women sold to Chinese men are believed to still live in China, most illegally, according to activists specializing in North Korea affairs. In the early years of bride trafficking, most North Korean women were lured by brokers who promised food and jobs in China; some were abducted. One bar owner in Shenyang examined her and two other North Korean women for 10 minutes before deciding not to buy anyone.

Source: thestar September 25, 2016 20:37 UTC