In the first few decades of the split between North and South Korea, there was little movement between the two countries. Very few defected, and these were mostly men and soldiers, who were referred to as ‘defecting warriors.’

But since the mid-1990s this number of refugees has been rapidly increasing and most are not soldiers, but women, children, and young adults.

INCREASING NUMBERS

According to the South Korean Ministry of Unification, in 1998, a total of 947 defectors entered the South, with 12% being women. In September of 2016, in contrast, the number of North Korean refugees living in South Korea