Lee said that the abuse of girls of military-low rank is a common thing in the DPRK army and “the dignity of women simply doesn’t exist.” In this way exists the subordination in the North Korean army.
“Among 120 soldiers of my unit, only 20 were men, but all were in the officer rank, – Lee says. I was in the first platoon, but the commander of the second platoon raped each of the girls of their subordinates.”
Medical workers conceal information about the pregnancy of raped girls. Lee says that her name is in the “list of traitors”, who await the death penalty if they return to their homeland. In this list there are 23 names. In South Korea, Lee was engaged in defense of Korean women. She joined the organization “Union women new Korea”, which has organized this conference.
Other women supported Lee. They say that people are trying to illegally get to China because of hunger. Some manage to escape. And those who are caught, are sent to labor camps, where girls are also subjected to violence. The pregnant women in the camp are forced to have an abortion. “In China, they are considered illegal immigrants, and at the first opportunity they are returned home, to North Korea, where they immediately get into the camp, – said David Hawk, a researcher of this problem. Thousands of women stay in North Korean prisons.”
A former employee of the railway company of the DPRK Kim Yong Mi, who managed to leave the country, said that women conductors are also often victims of sexual abuse and violence, it is a very common phenomenon in the trains that carry troops. According to her, due to the severe shortage of hygienic means, conductors have to repeatedly use disposable feminine pads.
Former North Korean army nurse Choi Su Heng, who managed to flee the country in 2014, confirmed that 30-40% of soldiers are women, and they periodically become victims of sexual harassment and rape. Soldiers of both sexes are malnourished, and there are epidemics of hepatitis and tuberculosis.