SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — The unification ministry on Thursday unveiled a monument near the inter-Korean border to commemorate North Korean defectors who lost their lives during escapes from the repressive regime. The monument was set up at the Odusan Unification Observatory in Paju, a border city just south of the Demilitarized Zone separating [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The employment rate of North Korean defectors in South Korea reached a new high of 60.5 percent earlier this year, a report showed Wednesday, in a sign of improving living conditions for those who fled from the North. The April figure — which serves as annual statistics for North [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – The recent ’2023 Survey on North Korean Defectors’ conducted by the Korea Hana Foundation reveals significant improvement in the economic activities and settling environment of North Korean defectors residing in South Korea. The survey, published on December 27, indicates an increase in the employment rate of defectors to 60.5% this [...]
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho renewed calls Monday for China to help North Korean defectors move to a country of their choice and ensure their human rights are protected based on the “international norm.” Kim made the remarks in a keynote speech read out by an aide to [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s vice defense minister has renewed Seoul’s opposition against forced repatriation of North Korean defectors in China, the latest in a series of diplomatic pressure being put on Beijing to address the issue. South Korea’s Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho made the remark in talks with Lt. Gen. [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — A group of four unidentified individuals from North Korea expressed intent to defect to South Korea on Tuesday, a government source said, with the military confirming it has secured them in waters off the eastern port city of Sokcho. “I understand that four people coming from North Korea expressed [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — The unification ministry said Thursday it is working to verify speculation that China sent back hundreds of North Korean defectors earlier this week, stressing that any North Korean refugees should not be repatriated to the North against their will. China forcibly repatriated around 600 North Korean defectors detained in [...]
SEOUL, July 18 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of North Korean defectors coming to South Korea reached 65 in the April-June period, nearly doubling from 34 three months earlier, government data showed Tuesday, in an apparent rise after China eased its strict COVID-19 restrictions. After escaping the North, 18 men and 47 women reached South [...]
ANSEONG, July 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Three North Korean defectors who recently arrived in South Korea after living on the run in China said their ordeal significantly worsened due to strict restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering a rare glimpse of how they went through hardships during the period. The three women — who, respectively, [...]
SEOUL, April 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to conduct radiation exposure tests on 89 North Korean defectors who hailed from areas near the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, Seoul’s unification ministry said Thursday. The radiation testing will be carried out starting in May for six months on North Korean defectors who had lived [...]