Sixty-two North Korean escapees arrived in South Korea between April and June this year, according to unification ministry data, bringing the total number of arrivals in the first half of 2024 to just 105.

The figure is similar to the 99 escapees that arrived in the South in the first six months of last year, indicating that North Koreans are still struggling to flee after the regime expanded border controls during the pandemic.

Like last year, most of the new arrivals likely did not recently escape North Korea, Unique Kim of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB)