Female North Koreans who escaped the starving Stalinist country often become a target of human trafficking and are sold to rural China, usually to farmers who cannot find a wife, at prices as low as $446, Dong-A Ilbo reported Saturday.

The practice, at least 10 years old, is usually arranged when a rural farmer places the "order" with a human trafficking organization with "specification" of a woman he wants, including age and appearance.

A Chinese man who currently lives with a North Korean woman said, "The organization that I contacted for a North Korean woman and the organization another village man contacted for the same purpose were different. So, it seems that there are a number of such organizations involving in the business."

North Korean women who entered China were often lured by a human-trafficking broker who proposed a "lucrative job." They were first gathered in the northeastern city Yanji, then were sent to the nearby city of Jilin before being transported to various Chinese cities where the "order" was placed, the newspaper said.

The price for a North Korean woman ranges from $446 to $1,488, the newspaper said, citing Chinese men who live with North Korean female refugees, North Korean women and Chinese officials.

A Chinese official who used to be in charge of repatriating North Korean refugees back to the North told the newspaper that the areas where these women were sold were not limited to the Northeastern region of Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces, close to North Korea, but have been expanding to inner provinces of Hebei, Anhui and Jiangsu.

"After arriving at the Chinese farmer's house, the North Korean woman realizes that she is the victim of human trafficking, but won't dare to escape for fear of being caught in a remote and isolated rural village where the language is different," a source familiar with the practice said.