As a matter of policy, North Korean refugees caught on the border or in China are returned to North Korea and directed to the nearest National Security Agency detention center, where they are interrogated to establish the details of the defection. This process takes a number of days, during which time bribes can be presented and clemency obtained. However, it appears that a new policy has been established in which repatriated refugees are sent directly to prison without first undergoing interrogation. This policy of direct transit to prison camps makes it harder to escape prolonged detention.

 

This new policy supposedly arose after the "Kim Kwang Ho incident", in which a family that had defected, settled in South Korea and then returned to North Korea, attempted to escape from the North yet again. As a result of this indicent, "the authorities are mobilizing the most extreme tools at their disposal to try and stop people defecting."

 

Source: Daily NK