[QUOTE](CNN) -- The number of North Koreans who have defected to South Korea has passed 20,000, the Yonhap news agency said Monday.
A 41-year-old woman identified only by the last name Kim arrived in South Korea on Thursday, becoming the 20,000th defector, Yonhap said, citing South Korea's Unification Ministry.
The woman fled with her sons, ages 12 and 17, because of economic hardships in the North, Yonhap said.
The family arrived in South Korea via China, but no further details were available, the agency said.
An average of 200 North Koreans arrive in the South monthly, according to the Unification Ministry.
North Koreans also escape to neighboring China, but their numbers are unknown, because they go underground. Beijing sends North Korean defectors back to the hermetic North, where they face punishment.
Many North Koreans also are caught while trying to escape their impoverished country.
Millions of families were separated by the Korean War, which ended in 1953 with a ceasefire, but without a formal peace treaty.
South Korea turned itself into an economic tiger in the decades after the war. It overtook the communist North, which was industrially superior at one point.
North Koreans have gone hungry as their leaders have poured money into the country's nuclear arms and missile programs, analysts say. The arms buildup has prompted harsh economic sanctions from the international community.
Weather-driven food shortages have compounded the hardships faced by North Koreans.[/QUOTE]
Source: [url]http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/15/skorea.nkorea.defectors/index.html[/url]
why would they ever want to leave such a beautiful country
[quote=Glorious Leader, Kim Jong-Il]They're not defecting! They're on vaction! :buddy:[/quote]
They didn't defect, they were kicked out of best korea to worse korea as a punishment for not working in the salt mines!
How foolish they will feel when they realize they are in Worst Korea, not Best Korea.
This is why insurgency would not be a problem if North Korea were invaded: those people are miserable.
[b]edit[/b]
Not that I think we [i]should[/i] invade.
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;26257559]This is why insurgency would not be a problem if North Korea were invaded. Those people are miserable.
[b]edit[/b]
Not that I think we [i]should[/i].[/QUOTE]
Maybe, but I think enough are brain washed that there would be a masssive insurgency.
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;26257559]This is why insurgency would not be a problem if North Korea were invaded: those people are miserable.
[b]edit[/b]
Not that I think we [i]should[/i] invade.[/QUOTE]
If anything, I think we should give them food and aid.
I can't wait for the US to get in there and kick ass. No country should have 20,000 defectors, even in their whole life span as a country.
I've never really understood why countries like North Korea try to force people to stay. Oh, and they never reveal the escape routes used by North Korean defectors because they want other potential defectors to have a safe route out of the country. Just a fun little tidbit.
[QUOTE=The Pretender;26257748]I can't wait for the US to get in there and kick ass. No country should have 20,000 defectors, even in their whole life span as a country.[/QUOTE]
If one moves from one democracy to another, should that count as defection? In that case I don't think there's a country in the world that upholds your standard.
[QUOTE=The Pretender;26257748]I can't wait for the US to get in there and kick ass. No country should have 20,000 defectors, even in their whole life span as a country.[/QUOTE]
Whoa there big boy. This is up to South Korea, not the United States. We'll back them, but we sure as hell aren't going to spearhead an attack. If we were foolish enough to do that, the South Korean people who border these lunatics would have to deal with the consequences.
[QUOTE=Cheezy;26257780]If one moves from one democracy to another, should that count as defection? In that case I don't think there's a country in the world that upholds your standard.[/QUOTE]
That's not at all what he meant. "The physical act of defection is usually in a manner which violates the laws of the nation or political entity from which the person is seeking to depart." When you move from one country to another, it's normally through legal means. The North Korean people have no way of leaving their country legally because North Korea is crazy and treats them like prisoners who can never leave.
If the union were still here, their families would be sent to count trees in siberia
[QUOTE=Cheezy;26257780]If one moves from one democracy to another, should that count as defection? In that case I don't think there's a country in the world that upholds your standard.[/QUOTE]
There's a difference between emigration and defeca-
Woah. Best not to finish that sentence.
But regardless, having people willingly move from a country and having people secretly fleeing in terror is entirely different.
[QUOTE=animephreak135;26257786]Whoa there big boy. This is up to South Korea, not the United States. We'll back them, but we sure as hell aren't going to spearhead an attack. If we were foolish enough to do that, the South Korean people who border these lunatics would have to deal with the consequences.[/QUOTE]
I know, I never intended on the US directly attacking NK, I meant if there was a war, the US would more than likely help the South, in which case we'd kick ass. I never wanted anyone hurt, I'm just expressing American superiority over NK.
[QUOTE=animephreak135;26257769]I've never really understood why countries like North Korea try to force people to stay. Oh, and they never reveal the escape routes used by North Korean defectors because they want other potential defectors to have a safe route out of the country. Just a fun little tidbit.[/QUOTE]
Power is like a drug also without people who is kim jong il going to use as carpet?
20,000 spies are welcomed into South Korea. Oh, Kim-Jong Il, you clever little man.
[QUOTE=Teh Phoenix;26257325]why would they ever want to leave such a beautiful country[/QUOTE]
North Korea is a beautiful country, the problem lies within the government.
[QUOTE=Nitrowing;26257950]20,000 spies are welcomed into South Korea. Oh, Kim-Jong Il, you clever little man.[/QUOTE]
*cough*Metal Gear Solid*cough*
In the news: 20,000 fools leave workers paradise for land of imperialist capitalist scum
[QUOTE=Jiyoon;26257828]If the union were still here, their families would be sent to count trees in siberia[/QUOTE]
As it is, they are being sent to labor camps where they get shot for the slightest case of rule-breaking.
[QUOTE=Psychokitten;26260275]As it is, they are being sent to labor camps where they get shot for the slightest case of rule-breaking.[/QUOTE]
Yeah camp 22 is hell but its no siberia
What's sad is what happens when they defect. You see, when you fuck up in North Korea, they don't always just come after you. If you defect then your entire family including your extended family get sent to a concentration camp to die.
[QUOTE=Jiyoon;26260285]Yeah camp 22 is hell but its no siberia[/QUOTE]
Have you ever been through a Korean winter?
[QUOTE=Psychokitten;26260490]Have you ever been through a Korean winter?[/QUOTE]
Have you ever been through a Siberian winter?
[QUOTE=Jiyoon;26260498]Have you ever been through a Siberian winter?[/QUOTE]
Yeah I have, what about it?
Imagine what they feel like outside of North Korea, when they're brainwashed into thinking that all of the countries want to be like NK. Imagine what they would feel like being in the US in say, NYC, they would be astounded if they thought back about NK and how NK would brainwash them into thinking the US is far less advanced than them.
[QUOTE=Jiyoon;26260498]Have you ever been through a Siberian winter?[/QUOTE]
Been through both, they're equally brutal.
[QUOTE=johan_sm;26260512]Yeah I have, what about it?[/QUOTE]
ish
[editline]24th November 2010[/editline]
[QUOTE=Psychokitten;26260632]Been through both, they're equally brutal.[/QUOTE]
thankyou for agreeing with me
There's nearly 30,000 in China, according to their estimates. Except China is stricter on immigration of any sort, and will typically expel those who are caught, but they're there none the less.
The problem is what happens to these defectors. Originally SK used to provide them with housing and education to get a job, but in recent years it has been less than generous. Some of the women have unfortunately got roped into sex trafficking being the most vulnerable.
Soon enough, they'Ill discover Starcraft.
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