Only 23 North Korean defectors arrived in the South from July to September, according to the unification ministry, the most in any quarter this year but still far below pre-pandemic levels.

The new defectors bring the total number of arrivals to 42 for the year, as the DPRK’s strict COVID-19 border controls and restrictions in transit countries like China make it more difficult for defectors to reach South Korea.

More than 1,000 defectors made it to the South in 2019 and nearly 3,000 per year in the late 2000s.

Just 11 defectors arrived in the South in the first