North Korean escapee arrivals to South Korea are at their lowest in over two decades, and they continue to face challenges with integrating into their new home. However, rising numbers of success stories prove the remarkable resilience and adaptability of this unique population.  

Earlier this month a senior North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba defected to South Korea. He was the highest ranking North Korean official to defect since diplomat Thae Yong-Ho escaped from the London embassy in 2016. Thae has since undertaken international speaking tours, published a best-selling memoir, and held office in the South Korean National Assembly.  

Such an illustrious aftermath does not await all North Koreans who escape to South Korea. Many struggle with adapting to life in Korea’s fast-paced society due to both personal and societal challenges. However, with the support of civil society organisations, more North Korean escapees are now bucking the trend and finding success and purpose, providing hope for others following them.  

A downward trend 

North Korean escapee numbers today are down considerably from their peak in the 2000s and early 2010s. At that time, over 2,000 people were arriving most years, after making the perilous journey across the border into China and on to a third country to request safe passage to South Korea.  

There were so many escapees then that the South Korean government opened a dedicated resettlement and training centre where new arrivals were housed for several months before being released into society.  

These Hanawon resettlement centres are still in operation today, but they are much quieter. Increased North Korean border control, more sophisticated surveillance in China, and less severe food insecurity in North Korea than in the late 1990s and early 2000s has meant that escapee numbers are down to around a hundred each year.  

In addition, many of those who come to Seoul are not recent escapees from the North, but rather individuals who have been living illegally in China for some time, and who have decided to move on and take up South Korea’s offer of settlement support and citizenship.  

Challenges to integration 

Despite government support for housing, medical care, education, and training, the life of a North Korean migrant is not an easy one, especially at first. Depending on how long they spent living in North Korea and elsewhere prior to arriving in the South, they must come to terms with the demands of living in a fast moving, highly competitive, capitalist liberal democracy that couldn’t be more different from their former home. They come with few or no relevant qualifications and a lack of understanding of how their new world functions. 

Around 70 percent of North Korean escapees are women, and many of them have suffered from sexual violence or were victims of sex trafficking at some point along the journey. Some fled violent persecution or experienced imprisonment in North Korea or China. Their psychological and physical scars therefore run deep and while they may not be visible on the surface, those scars affect the ability of many North Koreans to build trusting relationships, hold down a job, or sleep free from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-induced nightmares. 

In addition to the visible and invisible burdens they carry with them, North Koreans living in South Korea often suffer from discrimination. They struggle to earn the trust of South Koreans, who can be wary of people whom they have grown up knowing as their enemy.  

A 2023 report on the Social and Economic Integration of North Korean Refugees published by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) found that 71.2 percent of North Koreans surveyed felt they had experienced some form of discrimination in the workplace at least once. 86 percent of respondents agreed that they should discard their “North Korean way of thinking or their habits” to integrate into South Korean society. 

In response, some escapees have been known to mask their origins and pass themselves off as Korean-Chinese or South Korean-born. Some have migrated on to other countries to escape the stigma of being North Korean in the South. The suicide rate among North Korean escapees is around double that of South Korean citizens, which is already the highest among OECD countries. 

Despite these varying challenges, NKDB’s 2023 survey found that 77.7 percent of respondents were either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with life in South Korea.  

The crucial role of civil society organisations 

Once North Korean escapees have passed through the government services designed to support their initial integration into society, civil society actors often step in to provide much-needed complementary support that extends longer-term.  

Over the years, these organisations have expanded their services to include counselling, employment training and support, medical care, performing arts groups, mentoring, and social networking opportunities.  

These services have vastly improved the prospects for many North Koreans who may otherwise slip through the cracks, granting them opportunities to make friends, pursue recovery from trauma, gain qualifications, find employment or set up their own businesses. Several North Korean escapees have either run for office or been elected to the National Assembly in recent years, signalling a shift towards recognising their value to Korean society.  

After some time spent in education and employment and having built a social network, it is not unusual for some North Korean escapees to feel a call to do something to contribute to public awareness about conditions in North Korea and to advocate on behalf of their community. 

South Korean media has provided platforms for such individuals over the years in the form of panel TV shows designed to give opportunities to share their experiences, improve public understanding of their identities, and challenge negative stereotypes.  

Some North Koreans have published memoirs that have sold well internationally. The more recent advent of social media platforms has seen other North Korean escapees exercise greater control over their stories by setting up their own YouTube channels.  

A small number of North Korean escapees have become directly involved in activism around the situation in North Korea, joining South Korean and international advocacy groups seeking to put pressure on the North Korean government to improve its human rights record. Many state that their motivation for such work lies in a desire to see the two Koreas unified once again, enabling reunification also with family members and communities they left behind. 

Civil society organisations such as Liberty in North Korea insist that focusing on such success stories resulting from the empowerment of North Korean escapees will contribute to moving the narrative on North Korea away from the negative image of the regime and towards the positive potential of the North Korean people. 

Unification U-Turn 

In early 2024, the North Korean government stated for the first time in its history that it viewed unification as no longer possible, stating that South Korea is its “principal enemy.” This turn has placed North Korean escapees in South Korea in a difficult position as even though unification has always seemed like a distant and complex prospect, the North Korean government’s announcement makes the likelihood of meeting family and friends left in North Korea that much more remote. 

Despite this shift, it is likely South Korea will continue to fulfil its constitutional obligation to grant citizenship to former residents of North Korea for the foreseeable future. As China will forcibly repatriate any North Koreans found in its territory, escapees have little other recourse to safety than to come to the South. Those who make it to South Korea are among the most resilient or lucky, or perhaps both. However, finding success in South Korea cannot be achieved alone. The community and compassion provided by others is crucial to a stable and secure life outside North Korea.   

Dr Sarah A. Son is a Senior Lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Sheffield in the UK and Director of Sheffield’s Centre for Korean Studies. Prior to joining Sheffield, she spent a number of years as Research Director of a South Korean NGO focused on documenting the human rights situation in North Korea. 

This article is published under a Creative Commons License and may be republished with attribution.