A North Korean fisherman, left, is on standby for deportation back to North Korea in Panmunjeom, located in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea on November 2019. Yonhap

By Lee Yeon-woo

The previous Moon Jae-in government's repatriation of the North Korean fishermen in 2019 despite their revealed intention to defect to the South has drawn condemnations from international human rights groups following the disclosure of several photos of them.

In those photos that were revealed by the Ministry of Unification, the North Koreans appear to have resisted while being taken to the inter-Korean border to hand them over to the North Korean authorities.

The Korean-language website of Voice of America (VOA), the U.S. state-owned international broadcaster, has reported that several human rights groups and other U.S.-based organizations have criticized the Moon government's decision to send them back to the North against their will, calling it a violation of human rights.

In particular, Amnesty International said, "The decision to send them back to North Korea violated the principle of non-refoulement." The principle of non-refoulement in international law states that no one should be returned to a country where they would face persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.

"A guarantee of non-reoccurrence should be ensured by the South Korean government," it added.

George W. Bush Presidential Center was also critical of the decision. "The forcible repatriation was immoral, inhumane and unlawful. At the same time, we want to acknowledge that killing (if it occurred as reported) is also unacceptable, and one should face the consequences within a fair and due process," the institute was quoted as saying by the VOA.

U.S. Congressman Chris Smith, a member of the Republican Party in New Jersey, joined the criticism, saying the repatriation underscores the "brutality of North Korea's communist regime and the callous complicity of the previous Moon administration," in another VOA report.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Unification released several photos that captured the two North Korean fishermen's repatriation process near the inter-Korean border. Those photos show the North Koreans appearing to resist being handed over to Northern officials.

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se told reporters that those photos were released to the press while the ministry submitted them to the National Assembly upon its request.

He said that sending the two North Koreans back to the North against their will is unlawful. "It is clearly inappropriate for the South Korean authorities to conclude that they are criminals after conducting a brief investigation…they were supposed to stand trial in accordance with the South Korean legal system and must be presumed innocent until proven guilty," the minister said.