A boat with North Korean defectors managed to reach South Korea

A small boat carrying a group of North Koreans crossed South Korean waters, the South Korean military said Tuesday, October 24, in what appears to be a rare act of defection by sea. The ship was intercepted off the eastern city of Sokcho and those on board were taken to safety, the South Korean military general staff added.

Four North Koreans were on board the boat and “expressed their intention to defect”, according to the Yonhap news agency, citing an anonymous government source. More than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to the South since the 1950-53 conflict. But their numbers dropped to 67 last year, after Pyongyang imposed a strict border closure to protect against the Covid-19 pandemic. Only a handful of defectors from the North have so far crossed the maritime border or demilitarized zone that separates the two countries, which officially remain at war.

The vast majority of them first go to neighboring China, where they sometimes stay for years, before reaching South Korea via third countries. Most of the tens of thousands of North Koreans who have fled repression and poverty in their country have opted to cross the border into China, where they risk arrest and deportation. If repatriated, these North Korean fugitives face heavy sanctions in their country, even the death penalty, according to human rights defenders.