More than 100 North Korean defectors reported missing after secret police arrests

A human rights group in Seoul reports that over 100 North Koreans have gone missing after being caught by secret police while attempting to defect or contact relatives in South Korea. The report highlights patterns of enforced disappearances. The Transitional Justice Working Group identified 113 individuals in 66 cases of disappearance, with 80% arrested in North Korea. Most vanished after being detained by the Ministry of State Security, the country's secret police. The report comes ahead of a UN review of North Korea's human rights record. The North has denied these allegations, labeling defectors as "human scum" and tightening border controls under Kim Jong Un's leadership.