The number of North Koreans who defected to South Korea tripled last year, as the easing of border closures imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic encouraged students, women and diplomats to make the perilous journey.
At 196, the number was still well below the pre-pandemic average, but South Korean authorities said the backgrounds of many recent defectors pointed to growing discontent with the regime of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.
Defector numbers plummeted after North Korea sealed its border with China in early 2020 to prevent the virus from crippling its already inadequate healthcare system, with guards reportedly ordered to shoot suspected escapees on sight.
Just 63 people made it to the South in 2021, more than 90% down from 2019, when 1,047 arrived. The number stayed low in 2022, at just 67.
Last year’s number included 10 people who belonged to the North Korean “elite class” – the most since 2017 – according to the unification ministry in Seoul. It also included a significant number people in their 20s and 30s, while women made up about 80% of the total.
An estimated 31,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the 1950s. Most cross into China and seek new lives in the South via a third country. The number reached its peak in 2009, when 2,914 people defected, but has seen a sharp decline since Kim introduced tighter border controls after becoming leader in late 2011.
Very few people attempt to reach the South directly via the heavily armed demilitarised zone or by crossing the de facto maritime border, known as the northern limit line.
Last year, 13 defectors fled to the South by sea, the ministry said, adding that their willingness to risk their personal safety was indicative of “worsening conditions in North Korea”. All of them cited food shortages.
Ten of the recent defectors were diplomats, trade officials and students attending universities overseas. “We have confirmed last year’s defections by the elite class were the highest in recent years,” the unification ministry said.
The presence of diplomats suggests that the North’s decision last year to scale back its overseas presence had encouraged defections among officials who were disenchanted with their lives back home, having spent long periods in freer countries.
“North Korean diplomats, other officials and students based overseas were told to return last year as the pandemic situation entered a new phase,” a ministry official told the Korea Times.
“Many must have found it unacceptable after experiencing what it was like to live in the free world, knowing that the economic situation even worsened and internal controls strengthened in North Korea.”
Defections by senior officials are an embarrassment to the North Korean regime. The most high-profile defectors include Thae Yong-ho, who defected in 2016 from the post of deputy ambassador at the North’s embassy in London, declaring himself “sick and tired” of Kim’s regime. He went on to be elected to the South Korean national assembly as a member of the ruling People Power party.
Surveys of last year’s cohort found that the prospect of freedom in the democratic South and lack of food in the North were the two biggest factors. Nearly 23% said they had decided to defect after growing disillusioned with the North Korean regime, according to the Yonhap news agency, while just over 21% said they had been forced to leave by food shortages.
With Agence France-Presse
