Nearly 30% of NK defectors in China had biological data registered with authorities

This image from a report from the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights shows a person having his blood drawn by Chinese public security authorities. Yonhap

Nearly 30 percent of North Korean defectors who lived in China had experiences of having their sensitive biological data registered with local security authorities, a report showed Thursday.

The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights released the findings after conducting a survey from July 2-18 of 102 North Korean defectors based in South Korea who had lived in China between 2013 and 2025.

A total of 29.4 percent said their biological data, including profile photos, fingerprints from all 10 fingers, as well as information on their blood, hair, weight, iris and voice, had been registered with China's Public Security Bureau, according to the report.

They also provided personal information, such as their places of birth, details about their common-law spouses in China and whether they had been married in North Korea, along with other key data, including their names, gender, date of birth and nationality.

North Koreans were required to provide more biological data than Vietnamese or Lao women married to Chinese men when registering their identification with public security authorities, the report also said.

The center warned that such personal data, once collected, carries the risk of being used for surveillance or pubic order control purposes, going beyond its administrative intent.