Fewer North Korean defectors arrived in Seoul last year

통일부 [사진=송윤서 기자]

SEOUL, January 20 (AJP) - A total of 224 North Korean defectors arrived in South Korea last year, the Ministry of Unification said on Tuesday.

The figure is a slight decrease from last year's 236, following a sharp decline during the coronavirus pandemic.

Of them, 198 were women and 26 were men, with only a handful having defected directly from North Korea without passing through a third country like China.

The cumulative number of North Korean defectors now stands at 34,538, comprising 24,944 women and 9,594 men.

Annual arrivals once reached nearly 3,000 but fell sharply after the pandemic, dropping to 229 in 2020, 63 in 2021, and 67 in 2022, before gradually rising to 196 in 2023 and 236 in 2024.

A Unification Ministry official said the figure has stood at around 200 since 2023 and is expected to stay at that level as North Korea's border remains closed.
Song Yoon-seo 기자 sys0303@ajunews.com

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