N. Korean defectors that arrived S. Korea to hit 30,000 mark: gov't

The number of North Korean defectors who have arrived in South Korea over the years will reach the 30,000 mark this month, the unification ministry said Sunday.

The ministry in charge of formulating North Korean policy said there has been a 21 percent spike in defectors reaching the country this year compared to 2015. From January through October, 1,154 people have successfully escaped the repressive regime and sought a new life in the South.

"As of late October, there are 29,948 former North Koreans in the South so the 30,000 mark should be reach around Nov. 15-16," an official said.

He said Seoul plans to mark the occasion with a new resettlement policy that will better help escapees integrate into South Korean society.

The new plan aims to facilitate greater social participation of North Korea defectors, help them find jobs and concentrate on helping youngsters assimilate into schools and their studies.

Official data, meanwhile, showed that 2016 marked the first year since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took power in late 2011 that the number of defectors increased noticeably.

In 2011, 2,706 North Korean arrived in the South, but this number dropped to 1,502 the following year, and stayed almost flat at 1,514 in 2013, and dipped to 1,397 and 1,276 in the two following years respectively. The drop had been attributed to tighter border control along the North Korea-China frontier which is not heavily guarded.

Official source attributed this year's increase to the "reign of terror" perpetrated by Kim and tighter international sanctions that is forcing North Korean workers living abroad to repatriate more money. The North Korean leader has purged many leading figures from positions of power and has resorted to terror tactics like public executions to enforce his rule.

Besides such developments, many North Korean elites are opting to defect for the sake of their children's future as well as getting away from political oppression.

Reflecting this, polls conducted by the unification ministry on defectors showed less people escaping the country because they were starving or for economic reasons.

Before 2001, 66.7 percent of those that left the country said they were trying to get away from hunger, but this decreased to 57.9 percent in 2002-2005 period and dropped to just 12.1 percent from 2014 to this year.

In contrast, those that cited freedom and discontent over North Korean politics reach 87.8 percent in the 2014-16 period from 33.3 percent before 2001 and 42.1 percent in the 2002-2005 period. (Yonhap)