'Rape,' 'sexual assault' terms missing in NK: defectors

/Courtesy of Twitter

By Lee Han-soo

Terms relating to rape and sexual assault are absent in North Korea, defectors to South Korea say, according to UPI, an international news agency.

Although North Korea declared gender equality in 1946, defectors say sexual abuse of women is rarely noticed or punished.

Some defectors even said they had never heard the terms “rape” or “sexual assault” until they came to South Korea.

Park Ok-kyung, a defector from North Korea, said she only realized what sexual harassment was when she resettled in South Korea.

Other defectors have reported that North Korean soldiers often make statements such as “Women can make do with their bodies if they don’t have money.”

And many powerful security agents in North Korea often allegedly call young women into their offices to fondle them.

Defectors say women are powerless and normally cannot report such behavior to police.

"That is because accusing people in power of wrongdoing can undermine their own personal safety," a defector said.