Defector from North Korea, who Disappeared after Beatings by South Korean Police, Found Dead 37 Days Later

2020-8-23, Liberty Korea Post [TRANSLATION]

7-16:  He was taken to the police station, returned home bloody on 7-18, and later disappeared.

8-18:  His wife submits a petition to the Blue House Petition website

8-22:  His corpse found

On August 22, 2020, Han Gwang-jin (한광진) was found dead.  Han was an escapee from North Korea, who was taken to the police station and assaulted by the police, and later disappeared.

According to Byeon, late Han Kwang-jin’s wife, Han was taken by the police, who were dispatched after neighbors called the police to report the couple’s fight on July 16. When he returned home two days later on July 18 at 8 a.m., it is said that Han’s clothes and face were covered with blood.

His wife Byeon said, “My husband said that on that night (July 17), he was transferred to the district, they handcuffed him with 3 sets of handcuffs, and several policemen assaulted him.  He had a terrified look on his face and he left the house.  The wife revealed on the Blue House petition, “My husband, who left the house, was afraid and scared, and he kept saying over the phone that he is afraid he would die, if he went to Uijeongbu.”

On the morning of July 31, Byeon found cash in the milk bag hanging on the door of the house, and Byeon notified the police right away and requested the police check/search for her husband, but she did not get a call from the police until August 13.  She was told that her husband’s mobile phone and car keys are stored in a nearby district office, and his car was parked under the mountain.

Byeon checked the CCTV, which showed that at 6:43 am on July 31, Byeon’s husband parked the car under the mountain, and went up the mountain wearing shorts and slippers, and that is the last view of her husband.

On August 18, Byeon submitted a petition on the Blue House petition bulletin to ask that her missing husband be found.  On August 22, her husband’s body was found hanging from a tree at a mountain in Uijongbu.

The deceased’s body was in a hospital in Uijeongbu, and the bereaved family is appealing to reveal the cause of the deceased’s death.

The suicide case related to police assault of Han Gwang-jin follows the death of the late Han Seong-ok and her son in July last year, and the North Korean defector society is again protesting the current government’s policy of repression of North Korean defectors.

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Source: http://www.lkp.news/mobile/article.html?no=10200