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38 defectors entered South Korea in Q1 of 2025

Published: 17 Apr. 2025, 13:46 Updated: 21 Apr. 2025, 19:59

The Ministry of Unification [NEWS1]

A total of 38 North Korean defectors entered South Korea in the first quarter of this year, according to data released by the Ministry of Unification on Thursday.

One man and 37 women defected to South Korea between January and March. The figure is slightly lower than the 43 arrivals recorded during the same period last year, but up from the 34 who arrived in the first quarter of 2023.

The total number of North Korean defectors in South Korea now stands at 34,352.

More than half of the 38 arrivals in the first quarter were members of the so-called MZ generation — those in their 20s and 30s — signaling a steady rise in the proportion of younger defectors, according to the ministry.

Few of the defectors traveled directly from the North to South Korea. Most fled the North before its borders were sealed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and stayed in third countries for over five years before making their way to South Korea, said the ministry.

The number of defectors entering the country had hovered around 1,000 annually throughout the 2010s. However, the number dropped sharply to 229 in 2020. The figure remained in the double digits in 2021 and 2022, at 63 and 67, respectively, before rebounding to 196 in 2023.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY BAE JAE-SUNG [[email protected]]