South Korea said that the number of North Korean defectors increased in 2023 compared to the previous two years. Among them, the number of young people and the North Korean elite has increased. This was reported by CNN, according to UNN.
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The South Korean Ministry of Unification recorded 196 defectors who entered the country last year. Most of them are between the ages of 20 and 30, and about 84% are women.
In 2020, the DPRK closed its borders, plunging the country into further isolation. Only 63 defectors entered South Korea in 2021 and 67 in 2022, according to government data. In 2023, the country began to open up somewhat, allowing citizens living abroad to return and resuming international air travel to some countries, including China and Russia.
According to the ministry, among those who escaped last year were about 10 people whom it described as elite North Koreans, which has not happened since 2017.
These include diplomats, other officials, and students abroad who were ordered to return last year as the pandemic entered a new phase.
Many must have found this unacceptable after experiencing what it is like to live in the free world, knowing that the economic situation in North Korea has even worsened and internal control has tightened
According to South Korean officials, the most common reason for fleeing in 2023 was disagreement with the Kim regime, food shortages, and famine in North Korea.
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Millions of North Koreans live in poverty, while the country's wealthy elite, such as senior government officials and their families, reportedly have access to luxury items such as air conditioning, coffee, and even smartphones - although these phones only have access to the heavily censored government internet. They mostly live in the capital Pyongyang, where they enjoy amenities such as movie theaters, department stores, and indoor gyms.
Many defectors cross the North Korean border into China by crossing the Yalu River, which divides the two countries. Once in China, many cross illegally into Laos or Myanmar and head to the South Korean embassy in those countries or continue on to Thailand. China, Pyongyang's close ally, does not consider North Korean defectors refugees, but rather illegal economic migrants. According to the border agreement with North Korea, it forcibly deports them.
Upon returning to North Korea, defectors face possible torture, sexual violence, hard labor, imprisonment in political or re-education camps, or even execution by the North Korean state, according to activists.