A/HRC/19/65 where he resided, in December 1985. In 1986, Dr. Kil-nam left the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on the pretext of bringing more citizens of the Republic of Korea from West Germany. However, he left his wife and two daughters in the country, and they have since been held hostage by the State. In 1992, Dr. Kil-nam returned to the Republic of Korea and began to campaign for the return of his family to his country of origin. 45. Since his return to Republic of Korea, Dr. Kil-nam has met five asylum-seekers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea who claim to have seen his wife and children in Yodok prison camp. The last available information on the whereabouts of his family dates from 1995. In 1994, his family’s case was taken up by the Secretary-General of Amnesty International, who raised the issue with the authorities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. However, no progress has been made towards the release of the family or gaining access to the family members. 46. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that the case has been unresolved for a number of years. He calls on the authorities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to release Dr. Kil-nam’s family members immediately and to facilitate their reunion with Dr. Kil-nam. H. Protection of asylum-seekers 47. There has been a steady increase in the number of persons seeking refuge in the Republic of Korea. Until the late 1990s, fewer than 1,000 asylum-seekers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea had made their way to the Republic of Korea. By the end of 2012, there were around 23,700 asylum-seekers in the Republic of Korea. Of these arrivals, around 75 per cent are women (which has been more or less the case for the past five or six years). One plausible explanation provided for proportionally high number of women asylum-seekers is that women have more mobility in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, while men are expected to be at work or to look for work. In 2011, an increase of 17 per cent in the number of arrivals to the Republic of Korea was recorded over the figures for the previous year. 48. As in the previous year, the Special Rapporteur had the opportunity to visit the Hanawon centre, a Government-supported reception point for newly arrived asylumseekers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The increase in the number of asylum-seekers into the Republic of Korea has prompted the authorities in that country to build a new centre that could accommodate an additional 500 asylum-seekers at any given time. At Hanawon, the Special Rapporteur interacted with a number of asylum-seekers who had endured various types of harrowing experience in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Most of the asylum-seekers with whom he spoke had undergone harsh punishment in forced labour camps, had either witnessed or heard of torture being used on other inmates, and suffered punishment on the basis of “guilt by association”. The Special Rapporteur also heard with concern the increase in the number of neighbourhood social squads or “minders”, as they were commonly referred to. While some asylum-seekers manage to finally make their way to the Republic of Korea, numerous others are forcibly returned to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea by the neighbouring country. 49. During the visit, a number of non-governmental organizations and diplomats raised serious concerns about the refoulement of asylum-seekers. It was reported that border controls were tightened in 2011, making access to international protection more difficult. It was also reported that orders to shoot and kill those fleeing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea had been issued by the authorities. Some interlocutors also reported that fleeing asylum-seekers had been shot and killed by troops of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Such tightened border controls have forced asylum-seekers to take the sea route to Japan or the Republic of Korea. Statistics show that, in 2011, 47 people, on 12