Defectors in South Korea are overwhelmingly Protestants, even though Buddhism has about as many followers in the country.

Buddhism is one of South Korea’s oldest religions, with over 16% of the population identifying as Buddhist. But only a small fraction of North Korean defectors in the South identify as such – about 10%, according to 2019 survey data by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB).

The number of defectors who identify as Buddhists pales in comparison to those who identify as Christian: A whopping 51.2% of defectors are Christians, far above South Korea’s national average of just