[Graphic News] 11 N. Korean defectors have returned home in past 5 years

Eleven North Korean defectors went back to their communist homeland from South Korea over the past five years, the Unification Ministry said, after Pyongyang claimed that a defector suspected of having virus symptoms recently crossed the demarcation line to return home.

The 24-year-old defector is believed to have fled back to the North while he was under police investigation over suspicions of raping a female defector last month. His return was made known after the North said that a “runaway” came back home with coronavirus symptoms.

The Unification Ministry said a total of 11 defectors have gone back to the North since 2015. (Yonhap)