On October 24, NK News reported statistics on North Korean escapees entering South Korea in the third quarter of 2023. While the number of North Koreans entering the country more than tripled compared to the same quarter last year due to the re-opening of the Sino-North Korean borders and the lifting of strong quarantine measures in China, the Ministry of Unification was very cautious in pinpointing the factors contributing to the increase in numbers. Hanna Song, NKDB's Director of International Cooperation, assessed that the recent entrants may be influenced by China's move to resume the repatriation of North Korean escapees.
Hanna Song of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), one of the few organizations allowed to interview defectors shortly after their arrival in South Korea, told NK News that “most of the people who have come in this past quarter came from China, and many spent ten years or more there.”
“I think a lot of them were motivated by the news that China was going to get ready for forced repatriations,” Song said.
You can read the full article on NK News website by clicking HERE.
On October 24, NK News reported statistics on North Korean escapees entering South Korea in the third quarter of 2023. While the number of North Koreans entering the country more than tripled compared to the same quarter last year due to the re-opening of the Sino-North Korean borders and the lifting of strong quarantine measures in China, the Ministry of Unification was very cautious in pinpointing the factors contributing to the increase in numbers. Hanna Song, NKDB's Director of International Cooperation, assessed that the recent entrants may be influenced by China's move to resume the repatriation of North Korean escapees.
You can read the full article on NK News website by clicking HERE.