The number of new North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea dropped to a record low in 2020, according to new numbers released by Seoul’s Ministry of Unification on Wednesday.

In total, 229 North Koreans settled in the South last year, a 78% decrease from the 1,047 defectors who settled in the country in 2019. South Korea has been publishing official data on new defector arrivals for roughly two decades.

The significant drop was likely influenced by North Korea’s strict border lockdown over COVID-19, which began in Jan. 2020 and is still ongoing, with no end in sight. Phil