Hello there, and welcome to Ask a North Korean: the feature where you email in with your questions and have them answered by our very own North Korean writers.

Today’s question comes from Nanda in Indonesia, who asks what reasons North Koreans may have for choosing to defect.

North Korea is notorious for its poor human rights record and food shortages, so the answer to this question may seem obvious. However, it’s still a country that millions of people call home, where their friends and families live, and the only place many have known their entire lives — not to