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The North Korean Embassy in Beijing | Image: Transitional Justice Working Group via Google Earth

A Seoul-based human rights group has accused North Korea of running a secret prison beneath its embassy in Beijing to interrogate North Koreans suspected of attempting to defect before forcibly repatriating them to the DPRK.

In a report released Tuesday, the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) said DPRK officials tracked down North Korean workers in China suspected of attempting to defect and detained them in the embassy’s consular section before sending them back to North Korea.

These suspected detention centers were primarily used for personnel who require special investigations, such as diplomats and information technology workers,  a TJWG researcher told