The number of North Koreans defecting to South Korea has surged in recent years because of economic suffering in the North, with more than 10,000 defections over the past three years, South Korea's Unification Ministry said today. About as many North Koreans have defected to the South since the end of 2007 as the number who had fled over the entire previous period since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice: The overall total stands now at 20,050.
A ministry official said the rise in defections reflects the worsening economy in North Korea, which has relied on outside food aid since natural disasters and mismanagement wrecked its economy in the mid-1990s, when an estimated 2 million people died of famine. The North's economic troubles are thought to have worsened following a botched attempt at currency reform last year. Most defectors reach South Korea after crossing over a shared border with China, where activists say tens of thousands of North Koreans are hiding. (More China-North Korea border stories.)
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