SEOUL, July 1 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of North Korean defectors coming into South Korea recorded an all-time low in the second quarter this year due to the new coronavirus, the unification ministry said Wednesday. According to the ministry, 12 defectors were estimated to have entered the country from April to June this year, [...]
SEOUL, March 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Back in North Korea, Ji Seong-ho saw elections as nothing more than a formality, because even a vote against the ruling Workers’ Party-picked candidates, let alone criticism of the government, could land voters in prison. Running for office was an unthinkable privilege reserved for elites and well-connected people. That’s [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — About one out of five North Korean defectors experienced discrimination in South Korea last year mostly due to “cultural” differences, a survey showed Wednesday. According to the survey conducted by the Hana Foundation, a state-run agency that helps resettlement of North Korean defectors, 17.2 percent of 3,000 defectors polled [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korean defectors launched a preparatory committee Tuesday to establish the first-ever political party composed of defectors in South Korea, saying the envisioned party will work for democratization of their communist homeland and better protection of defectors’ rights. Around 200 North Korean defectors came together at the meeting in [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — The average monthly wage of North Korean defectors living in South Korea exceeded 2 million won (US$1,684) for the first time last year, the unification ministry said Tuesday. Defectors earned 2.04 million won (US$1,720) per month on average in 2019, compared with 1.89 million won in 2018, according to [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly half of North Korean defectors had experience of engaging in private-sector economic activities back in the communist nation, a poll showed Thursday. According to the poll conducted by the Korean Association of North Korean Studies and Hyundai Research Institute on North Korean defectors, 48 percent said that they [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Cho Kyung-ja (alias), a 33-year-old North Korean defector, is busy operating an espresso machine, preparing four cappuccinos, grinding, temping, frothing and sometimes wiping away beans that scatter here and there. As she lays the four cups down on a table, she shyly smiles as she says, “Excuse me. Here [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Eight of nine North Korean defectors suspected of being exposed to radiation came from the vicinity of the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site, an opposition lawmaker said Thursday, citing data from a government institution. A total of 40 defectors were tested for radiation exposure from 2017 to last year [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — A total of 157 North Korean defectors were held in South Korean prisons as of July, with 54 serving time for drug-related crimes, government data showed Tuesday. The number of defector prisoners has been on a steady rise in recent years from 113 in 2015 to 135 in 2016, [...]
SUWON, Aug. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — How different is life for North Korean students, who risked their lives to cross the border, compared to their South Korean counterparts? Twenty-one middle and high school students in Gyeonggi Province, each with their own stories, participated in a Career Design Camp that took place in Gwangju for three [...]