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N. Korean Defectors Numbers Up 10 Percent NewsMax.com WiresSEOUL, South Korea -- The stream of North Korean defectors entering South Korea is up 10 percent from last year and the numbers are likely to keep rising, the South's Unification Ministry said Thursday. By the end of November, 1,117 North Korean defectors had entered since January, 10 percent more than in the same period last year, the ministry said in its regular report on defections. Last year, a total of 1,140 North Koreans defected to the South, up from 583 in 2001. "The increase in the number of North Koreans entering South Korea is likely to continue, considering the fact that considerable numbers of defectors are staying in China and third countries," the Ministry said. Defectors in other countries are generally believed to be in hiding and seeking a chance to come to the South. Nearly 4,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War, three quarters of them in the past five years. Most of the defectors come by way of China, which shares a long land border with the impoverished communist North. Since 1995, North Korea has depended on outside aid to feed its 22 million people and many North Koreans have left the country to escape the harsh conditions. South Korea's military said in October that it had set up facilities near the border with the communist North to prepare for a possible influx of refugees. The refugee centers were established in preparation for a possible scenario in which instability would trigger large numbers of North Koreans to flee across the Demilitarized Zone -- a 2-mile-wide buffer zone separating the two Koreas. The Koreas were divided in 1945, and their border remains tightly sealed. © 2003 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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