A boat with North Korean defectors managed to reach South Korea

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

There were four North Koreans on the boat “Exposed a change of heart”According to Yonhap news agency, citing an anonymous government source. More than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to the South since the 1950-53 conflict. Their number dropped to 67 last year after Pyongyang imposed strict border closures to protect against the Covid-19 pandemic. Few defectors from the north have ever crossed the sea border or demilitarized zone that officially separates the two countries at war.

Most of them first go to neighboring China, where they sometimes stay for years, before reaching South Korea via third countries. Many of the tens of thousands of North Koreans fleeing oppression and poverty in their country have chosen to cross the border into China, where they risk arrest and deportation. If sent back, these North Korean defectors face severe sanctions in their country, even the death penalty according to human rights defenders.