North Korea defector numbers 'drop' under Kim

Most flee via China, which has the longest border with North Korea and is easier to cross than the heavily protected Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas.

The vast majority of defectors from the North are eventually offered South Korean citizenship.

The number of North Korean defectors to South Korea has fallen since Kim Jong un came to power seven years ago, a South Korean lawmaker has said.

Park Byeong seug, citing data from the South's unification ministry, said there had been 1,127 defections last year compared with 2,706 in 2011.

There's a traitor inside trying to escape!

You are a traitor. Does it occur to you?

Mr Park said tighter border controls between North Korea and China and higher rates charged by people smugglers were key factors.

But when the North Korean regime realized that smile diplomacy did not get it whatever it was they wanted, the country s rulers shifted back to hostility. This time, the authorities froze South Korean real estate in the Geumgang Mountain tourist zone and, most seriously of all, attacked the Cheonan.

They caught me and accused me of being a deserter.

North Korea

Korea

Korea?

Or escape plans. She still thinks I'm a defector.

North Korea

Hangul Jamo

North Korean Won

My country was a direct victim of biochemical weapon attacks by the United States and South Korea during the Korean War in the 1950s.

You've got a paid defector on your hands. That's me.

North Korea has always been seeking to formally end the 1950 53 Korean War, but the United States said that North Korea must firstly abandon nuclear weapons.

The North Korean Enigma

North Korean Won

North Korea

Northern Areas

North West

North Kurdufan

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Korean

Korean

I'm a refugee, not a traitor.

Korean Democratic Women's Union, Korea during 24 29 September, 2000.

Korean Democratic Women's Union, Korea during 17 21 June 2000.

It is the only non signatory State remaining on the Korean peninsula.

The Trouble with North Korea

The Korea Hilton.

Some had tried to escape from the country twice, but upon arrival in a neighbouring country were deported back to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, where they were imprisoned and labelled criminals or traitors .

However, the South Korean authorities are attempting to destroy the international atmosphere for humanitarian assistance by bringing into the United States people who committed crimes in my country and defected to South Korea some years ago out of fear of prosecution.

The World s North Korean Test

North Korea s Step Too Far?

North Korea s Choice

The Gambler of North Korea

1 January 1993 33. Democratic People apos s Republic of Korea

Yet, in the setting of the power polity in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, it is the latter which prevails.

So I'm to defect.

This shows the reality of North and South Korean relations, which the South Korean authorities often clamour about.