Thursday, November 07, 2002
The number of defectors from the DPRK is set to top 1000 for the year 2002.
an official at the Ministry of Unification reported that the number of defectors would exceed 1,000 for the first time this year. He added that the latest arrivals put the total number of North Korean asylum seekers in the South at 935 this year, and the grand total to 2,703. The official said that if this trend continues the figure would reach 1,100 by the end of the year and next year the number of North Korean defectors is expected to be about 1,300.Earlier this year I thought it possible that the increase in highly visible defections had the potential for triggering changes similar to those in Eastern Europe in the late 1980's. However, even though defections clearly are continuing, they certainly aren't getting much media attention outside of Korea.
