South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the number of North Korean defectors who entered South Korea over the past year has reached 63, including 40 men and 23 women.
The details indicate that in the first quarter of the year there were 31 defectors, 17 men and 14 women, in the second quarter – 5 defectors, 3 men and 2 women, and in the third quarter – 12 defectors, 9 men. and 3 women), and in the third quarter – 15 defectors, in the fourth – 11 men and 4 women.
In this context, he tracked: “The number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea has declined after peaking at 2,914 defectors in 2009, with 1,127 defectors registered in 2017, 1,137 defectors in 2018, and 1,047 defectors in 2019. and dropped to 229 defectors in 2020 as cases of COVID-19 spread.
He also mentioned that by the end of June, the number of dissidents inside the country had reached 33,834.
A spokesman for the South Korean Unification Ministry attributed the continued decline in the number of defectors to the continued imposition of lockdown measures and restrictions on the movement of North Koreans in other countries.
And regarding the VOA news report that Pyongyang was operating South-owned factories without permission at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in Kaesong City, South Korea’s acted there without permission.”
Source: Yonhap