N. Korea runs alleged secret prison at Beijing embassy: report

The useful part

North Korea allegedly runs a secret detention facility in its embassy in China to interrogate and repatriate its nationals deemed threats to the regime, a report said Tuesday. The claim was made in a report titled "North Korea's Transnational Repression: China" released Tuesday by the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), a Seoul-based human rights group.

How it works

• The secret operation is overseen by a "security representative" who holds a consular post but is reportedly a North Korean intelligence agency officer on a temporary assignment.
• Cases are reported to Pyongyang within 12-24 hours, according to the report.
• The report details the account of North Korean hacker Pae Yong-ju, who was arrested by Chinese authorities in Inner Mongolia while trying to flee to South Korea.

Details worth keeping

Based on interviews with multiple sources, including a former North Korean diplomat, the report claimed North Korea operates the facility in the basement of its embassy in Beijing, where surveillance, pursuit and arrest, detention and interrogation, and forced repatriation take place.