A family was recently apprehended near the China-North Korea border by State Security Department [SSD] agents after attempting to flee the country and is currently facing possible transfer to a re-education camp. Of the group, originally comprising four people, one of whom sources within the North revealed successfully fled while detained in custody, three are currently undergoing torture and investigation in the hands of security agents.

The family’s eldest son purportedly fled while being held in custody, leaving behind the parents and their younger son to endure relentless interrogation at a SSD-run detention center, where they are “as good as dead,” according to the source, because not only were they themselves planning to defect, but now their son presumably succeeded in doing so despite being held in custody.

She speculated that the three members remaining in custody will be sent to a re-education camp following the protracted interrogations, though the repercussions could prove more severe because of the son’s escape.

[Source: Daily NK]