A combination of coronavirus border closures and an unprecedented pressure campaign by a South Korean government keen to engage with North Korea may destroy networks defectors have long used to start new lives, activist groups say.
FILE PHOTO: Former North Korean defectors who were soldiers when they lived in North Korea release a balloon containing one dollar banknotes, radios, CD and leaflets denouncing the North Korean regime towards the north near the demilitarized zone which separates the two Koreas, in Paju, north of Seoul January 15, 2014. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo
The ministry has already revoked the licenses of two defector groups that were sending anti-Pyongyang propaganda into the North, following complaints from North Korea. Hired and funded by the NGOs, the intermediaries work as guides and offer shelter for defectors during their long, dangerous journey across China into Southeast Asia.This year, the number of defectors arriving in South Korea plummeted to an all-time low at 147 as of June, mainly because the North closed borders on coronavirus concerns.
When 13 defectors were detained in Vietnam last year, U.S. diplomats came to rescue instead of South Korean authorities, two sources familiar with the matter said. “I was speechless,” Ji said. “Government involvement may not always be successful, but how would they get the defectors released without even knowing where they were? In fact, they were already living well here.”
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