North Korean Immigration

Category: Immigration

Casey Blue James

North Korea has some of the strictest migration policies in the world, which should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with its secretive and reticent approach to foreign policy.
A 2007 estimate places North Korea’s population around 23,301,725 and growing (the birth rate is 15.06 births/1,000 population and the death rate is 7.21 deaths/1,000 population). Though the country is home to some people of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, South Korean, and European origin, the majority of the North Korean population is North Korean by ethnicity as well as citizenship. The country is one of the most ethnically homogenous countries in the world, and most non-North Koreans are expatriates.
Immigration, though not outlawed, is negligible, temporary, and generally limited to foreign investors and tourists. Most migration traffic into the country comes from South Korea; the South Korean Ministry of Unification has made efforts to try to bring North and South Korea closer together (economically closer, politically closer, etc.). North Korea’s emigration rate is technically 0%, since emigration from the country is illegal. However, despite government restrictions, emigration of refugees is more prevalent than immigration into North Korea. Most emigrants are refugees fleeing the government or contract workers looking for foreign work.
Most “humanitarian” emigration (emigration of refugees) began in the 1970s when economic downturn and natural disasters forced many North Koreans to leave their homes to seek political and economic sanctuary in neighboring countries. Food shortages caused further crises in the 1990s, when the North Korean Public Distribution System was unable to provide rations to all of the country’s citizens. Although outside humanitarian organizations organized delivery of food and aid, the North Korean government closely monitored (and even limited) distribution out of fear that foreign influence would pervade the country. More refugees fled the country in the early 2000s due to another economic crisis involving large-scale factory lay-offs. Most refugees flee to China and Southeast Asia.
Emigration (in the form of “unauthorized departure”) is considered “treason” by the North Korean government, and is punishable by law. Those caught departing or aiding in another North Korean’s departure are sent to penal labor camps called kwan-li-so notorious for their use of torture.
China’s government generally works with the North Korean government to monitor illegal immigration between the countries, and often sends North Korean immigrations back to their home country. The Chinese government even offers monetary awards to Chinese citizens turning in illegal immigrants from North Korea. Smugglers in Southeast Asia also make money by sending North Koreans “home.” Immigration to South Korea is easier, since the South Korean government recognizes South Korea as encompassing the Korean Peninsula and thereby encompassing North Korea. This effectively makes North Koreans, according to South Korean law, South Koreans, and gives them the right to resettlement. Many countries (including the United States and several countries in the European Union), grant political asylum to North Korean refugees. Japan does not officially recognize North Korean refugees, but has “quietly accepted” a fair number of them in the last twenty years.