North Korean defectors to South up by 10.9% in 2016

Seoul, Jan 3 (IANS) The number of North Koreans who defected to South Korea in 2016 rose by 10.9 percent as compared to the previous year, according to figures published on Tuesday by Seoul's Ministry of Unification.

A total of 1,414 North Koreans had defected to the South last year, up from 1,275 in 2015, Efe news reported.

The ministry attributes the increase to tough economic sanctions imposed by the international community and the United Nations on the Kim Jong-un regime for conducting nuclear missile tests.

Moreover, a greater number of North Korean diplomats and labourers working overseas have defected to the South, including Thae Yong-ho, a top diplomat in the North Korean embassy in London and 13 employees of a Pyongyang-run restaurant in China, in the summer.

This is the first time that the number of deserters has risen since 2011, the year when Kim Jong-un came to power and imposed strict control along the border with China, the main escape route of North Koreans seeking to defect to the South.

In 2009, a record 2,914 North Koreans had fled the country and so far, a total 30,258 North Koreans have defected to the South.

The two countries are technically still "at war" because the Korean Conflict (1950-1953) had ended with a ceasefire that was never replaced by a definitive peace treaty.