NORTH KOREAN MIGRANTS IN CHINA: A CASE STUDY OF HUMAN SMUGGLING AND TRAFFICKING BY HYOUNGAH PARK A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-Newark Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in the School of Criminal Justice Written under the direction of Ko-Lin Chin And approved by ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Newark, New Jersey October 2018 Copyright page: 2018 Hyoungah Park ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION North Korean Migrants in China: A Case Study of Human Smuggling and Trafficking By Hyoungah Park Dissertation Director: Ko-lin Chin This study investigates the smuggling and trafficking (e.g. forced marriage, sex trafficking, and labor exploitation) of North Korean Migrants in China (NKMCs). It seeks to answer the following questions: First, how should we define the status of NKMCs (e.g. illegal economic migrant, refugee, or trafficking victim)? Second, are the NKMCs victimized? If any, what are the contexts and factors that contribute to such victimization, and how? Further, what are the characteristics of the victims, smugglers, and traffickers? Finally, what are the contributing factors and possible policy implications to prevent the victimization of NKMCs? For this, one-on-one, face-to-face in-depth interviews with 58 NKMCs (47 women and 11 men) currently living in South Korea were conducted. Study participants were recruited through the purposive snowball sampling method. Interviews were conducted using a standardized questionnaire. This study suggests that 37 NKMCs (64%) should be classified as trafficking victims of forced marriage, commercial sex, or labor exploitation. There were 34 cases of forced marriage, 10 cases of sex trafficking, and 3 cases of labor exploitation among the 58 NKMCs. The most common pattern (22 cases, 59%) of trafficking victimization was being deceived by traffickers in North Korea, crossing the border with traffickers, and being victimized by forced marriage. This study suggests that high demand for marriageable women in China, vulnerabilities of victims due to fear of deportation, and lack of guardianship owing to the Chinese government’s indifference contributed to the trafficking victimization of NKMCs. In sum, this study provides a general picture of the smuggling and trafficking of NKMCs. It also suggests the adoption of a criminal justice approach rather than a human rights perspective to the understanding of NKMCs’ victimization. Routine activity theory was adopted to analyze the ii contributing factors to the victimization of NKMCs. Finally, this study suggests the Chinese government should do more to protect NKMC trafficking victims. iii PREFACE Before 2013, I knew nothing about North Korean’s human trafficking victimization in China. So, when I first met a North Korean who talked about how she had been victimized, I was greatly surprised and began to look for more reports on the issue. Surprisingly, it was hard for me to find good empirical research reports from the criminal justice perspective. For this research, I have spent almost five years and I hope this dissertation will attract many scholars and international attention. iv ACKOWLDEGEMENT This work would not have been possible without the support of Dr. Ko-lin Chin, my dissertation advisor and the chairman of my Dissertation Committee. He continually and convincingly conveyed a spirit of adventure with regard to research and he provided me extensive personal and professional guidance. Especially, his guidance in this work, from research design to the final revision, has provided me with great inspiration and courage. I would especially like to thank Dr. Jody Miller, one of my Dissertation Committee members, who has the attitude and the substance of a genius. Without her guidance and persistent help, this dissertation would not have been possible. Especially, she provided full revisions of my dissertation several times. She has taught me more than I could ever give her credit for here. She has shown me, by her example, what a good scholar, teacher, and person should be. I would like to thank my committee members, Professor Ronald Clarke and Professor Sheldon Zhang, who provided me with great insight and a sense of balance. Their discernment has contributed in invaluable ways to my dissertation. I am also grateful to the interviewees who shared their hard experiences and hope they can receive consolation. I would also like to thank those members of my family who have been with me throughout the pursuit of this long journey. To my father, late Park: I miss all your heartfelt advice and smiles. My eternal supporters, my real mother, Heo and step mother Noh: both of you always give your infinite love to me and because of that love, I stand here today. To my three children I would also like to say thank you. Specifically, I have received so much love and sacrifice from my wife, Lee: I love you and respect you more than anyone. For 52 months you have lived without me, raised three kids in a foreign country, and overcome language barriers during my research trip in South Korea. Above all, I would like to thank God for giving me this opportunity to see the suffering of people and to do my part in supporting them. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................1 1.1 Statement of the Problem .............................................................1 A. Background ................................................................................1 B. Vulnerability of NKMCs ............................................................8 1.2 Classification of NKMCs ............................................................ 11 A. Illegal Economic Migrants ......................................................12 B. Betrayers ..................................................................................12 C. South Korean Citizens .............................................................13 D. Refugees/Trafficked Victims ...................................................15 1.3 Significance of this Study ............................................................18 A. Limitations of Previous Studies ...............................................18 B. From Human Rights to Criminal Justice .................................23 C. Applying Routine Activity Theory to the Study of NKMCs ...25 D. Research Questions ..................................................................30 1.4 Outline of the Dissertation ..........................................................35 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...............................................40 2.1 Characteristics of NKMCs’ Human Smuggling and Trafficking ..........................................................................................40 A. Literature on the Smuggling and Trafficking of NKMCs ....40 1. General Information about NKMCs ..................................41 2. Moving from North Korea to China ..................................43 3. Victimization Experiences of NKMCs ..............................48 4. Characteristics of Smugglers and Traffickers ....................50 5. Factors Contributing to the Victimization of NKMCs .......52 B. Unique Characteristics of NKMCs’ Smuggling and Trafficking ....................................................................................40 2.2 Components for the Definitional Classification of NKMCs ....58 A. Components Needed for Each Definition of NKMCs .............59 vi B. Components of Each Definition Explained in the Literature ...61 1. Components for Economic Migrants .................................61 2. Components for Refugees ..................................................63 3. Components for Trafficking Victims .................................65 2.3 Theories ........................................................................................67 A. Theories on Migration .............................................................67 B. Theories on Human Trafficking ...............................................70 CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODS ...............................................74 3.1. Difficulties in Studying the Trafficking of NKMCs ................74 3.2 Data Collection ............................................................................75 A. Research Sites ..........................................................................75 B. Purposive Snowball Sampling .................................................81 C. Interviews .................................................................................84 D. Ethical Issues ...........................................................................93 3.3 Data Management and Data Analysis .......................................95 A. Data Management .................................................................95 B. Description of the Sample ....................................................96 C. Data Analysis ........................................................................99 3.4 Validity and Reliability .............................................................101 A. Validity and Reliability in Qualitative Research ................101 B. Validity and Reliability of this Study..................................103 C. Study Limitations ...............................................................105