April 28, 2024
News

40 North Korean defectors reached South Korea in third quarter: Seoul

Interviews with new arrivals suggest threat of repatriation is driving North Koreans in China to flee, expert says

Forty North Korean defectors arrived in South Korea between July and September this year, according to unification ministry data, bringing the total number of arrivals in the first three quarters of 2023 to 139.

The total is three times higher than the same period last year, when only 40 escapees made it to the South amid heightened border security and COVID-19 restrictions in China and the DPRK.

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