SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea imposed some of the harshest COVID-related border restrictions in the world, and their gradual loosening in recent months brings hope that the privations and shortages of basic goods that North Koreans endured during the pandemic may ease, too.
But looser border controls may be bad news for one specific group of North Koreans: defectors in China, who are now at risk of being deported. China usually sends defectors back to North Korea, but the North wouldn't let them in during the pandemic. That may soon change, and has led to concern among human rights advocates.
