54% of Citizens Say the 'Return of North Korean Fishermen Incident' Is "Inappropriate"

Public Awareness Survey on North Korean Human Rights
"95% Say North Korean Human Rights Situation is Serious"

The Ministry of Unification released photos on the 12th taken in November 2019 at Panmunjom when two North Korean fishermen who had defected were being repatriated to North Korea. At that time, the government stated that the two North Korean sailors had killed 16 of their colleagues, defected, and expressed their intention to seek asylum, but they were expelled to North Korea through Panmunjom. The photos show the defecting fishermen struggling and refusing repatriation.
[Photo by Ministry of Unification]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] A survey revealed that more than half of the public has an inappropriate perception of the 'North Korean defector fishermen repatriation incident.'

The North Korean Human Rights Database Center (NKDB) disclosed the results of a public perception survey at the '2022 Public Perception Survey on North Korean Human Rights' seminar held at the Korea Press Center on the afternoon of the 10th. NKDB is a civilian organization that has been investigating the human rights situation in North Korea.

This perception survey was conducted by NKDB and NK Social Research from the 4th to the 7th of last month, targeting 1,000 adult men and women aged 19 and older nationwide. The sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

According to the survey results, 54.2% (somewhat inappropriate 25.5% + completely inappropriate 28.7%) responded that the decision to repatriate the North Korean defector fishermen was 'inappropriate,' which was higher than the 34.2% (very appropriate 14.2% + generally appropriate 19.9%) who said it was 'appropriate.'

Additionally, 87.8% of respondents said they were 'aware' of the North Korean defector fishermen repatriation incident, indicating a high level of public interest.

The North Korean defector fishermen repatriation incident occurred in November 2019, when two North Korean sailors killed 16 colleagues, defected, and expressed their intention to seek asylum, but were repatriated to North Korea through Panmunjom. Currently, the prosecution is investigating former government officials involved in the repatriation decision.

In this survey, 95.5% of respondents agreed that the human rights situation in North Korea is serious. Among those who responded that it is serious, 55% said it is 'very serious,' and 40.5% said it is 'somewhat serious.'

Regarding the possibility of improving North Korean human rights, 76.4% of respondents answered that 'there is no possibility of further improvement.' Only 23.6% said there is a possibility of further improvement.

71.4% of respondents believed that if the South Korean government raises North Korean human rights issues with North Korean authorities, it would negatively affect inter-Korean relations. However, among those who viewed it negatively, a majority (progressives 62.9%, moderates 58.5%, conservatives 68.4%) said that regardless of ideological orientation, the government should directly raise North Korean human rights issues.

Also, 66.5% of respondents said they are usually interested in North Korean human rights, while only 33.5% said they are not interested.

Regarding the improvement of North Korean human rights, many respondents thought that 'pressure through international community cooperation' (44.4%) and 'encouraging improvement and support through continuous dialogue' (25.7%) should be prioritized.

Furthermore, 67.7% believed that North Korean human rights damage investigation and documentation activities should be conducted through cooperation between the government and civilians.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.