North Korean defectors

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People defect from North Korea for political, material, safety and personal reasons. Defectors flee to various countries, mainly South Korea. In South Korea, they are referred to by several terms, including "northern refugees" and "new settlers". Towards the end of the North Korean famine of the 1990s, there was a steep increase in defections, eventually peaking in 2009. Since then, some of the main reasons for the falling number of defectors have been strict border patrols and inspections, forced deportations, the costs of defection, and the end of the mass famine that swept the country when Soviet aid ceased with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The number of defectors has plummeted during the 2020s. The most common strategy for defectors is to cross the China–North Korea border into the Chinese provinces of Jilin or Liaoning. About 76% to 84% of defectors interviewed in China or South Korea came from the North Korean provinces bordering China. From China, defectors usually flee to...

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