North Korean defectors Seeking Refuge in South Korea

In the recent past North Koreans working abroad seeking refuge in South Korea was reported in the press

The women, who worked as waitresses at a North Korea-run restaurant in China, who arrived in Seoul in April have sought refuge in South Korea.

Seoul said they came of their own free will, while Pyongyang maintains they were abducted.

It has been reported now that A South Korean court is holding a rare hearing into the detention of 12 North Koreans who defected to the South.

A group of human rights lawyers who requested the hearing want to determine whether South Korea’s continuing detention of the women is legal.

The hearing will not be public and it is unclear if the women will be present to give their testimony, but it could set a precedent for how South Korea deals with the hundreds of defectors it receives every year.