Choi, who fled from North to South Korea 13 years ago, is suing her home country for 50 million won – just over 350,000 Swedish kronor, reports The Guardian.
The 53-year-old has also filed a criminal complaint demanding that Kim Jong-Un and five other North Korean officials be investigated for crimes against humanity. It is reported to be the first time a North Korean defector has taken legal action against the North Korean regime in a South Korean court.
It has been 13 years since I settled in South Korea, but I am still plagued by severe PTSD after the torture, she says to the British newspaper.
The scars on my entire body testify to the horrific reality of human rights in North Korea.
Stress positions
Choi Min-Kyung first fled North Korea in 1997, but was forced back by China four times between 2000 and 2008.
During the last forced repatriation, she was imprisoned for five months in three different detention centers in the North Korean province of North Hamgyong.
In her lawsuit, she describes the abuses in detail: sexual assaults during an inspection of "body cavities", beatings to unconsciousness resulting in a ruptured eardrum, systematic torture through forced stress positions for over 15 hours a day.
Tens of thousands imprisoned
A UN investigation found in 2014 that North Korea is committing widespread crimes against humanity. The report documented systematic abuses committed in the closed country's network of political prison camps, which are estimated to hold between 80,000 and 120,000 people.
A legal victory for Choi would, however, be largely symbolic, notes The Guardian. There are no mechanisms that can force North Korea to pay compensation.
We must act while survivors are still alive and can testify, she says.
