The Palace of International Friendship by Roman Harak on 2010-09-06 04:21:37
As of January 1, 2015, there were 27,518 North Korean defectors in South Korea.
Well, this statistic, provided by the Ministry of Unification, is somewhat misleading: The figure includes all cases of defection since the Armistice Agreement of 1953. Some of the refugees have died (though not many, since 90 percent arrived after 2000), and others have moved to third countries, so the actual number must be a bit lower.
As of January 1, 2015, there were 27,518 North Korean defectors in South Korea.
Well, this statistic, provided by the Ministry of Unification, is somewhat misleading: The figure includes all cases of defection since the Armistice Agreement of 1953. Some of the refugees have died (though not many, since 90 percent arrived after 2000), and others have moved to third countries, so the actual number must be a bit lower.
Andrei Lankov is a Director at NK News and writes exclusively for the site as one of the world's leading authorities on North Korea. A graduate of Leningrad State University, he attended Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung University from 1984-5 - an experience you can read about here. In addition to his writing, he is also a Professor at Kookmin University.