North Korean defectors

Since the division of Korea after World War II and the end of the Korean War (1950–1953), some North Koreans have managed to defect for political, ideological, religious and economic reasons.

Since the North Korean famine of the 1990s, more North Koreans have defected. The usual strategy is to cross the border into Jilin and Liaoning provinces in northeast China before fleeing to a third country, due to China being a close ally of North Korea. China, being the biggest of few economic partners of North Korea while the country has been under U.N. sanctions for decades, is also the largest and continuous aid source of the country. To avoid worsening the already tense relations of the Korea Peninsula, China refuses to grant North Korean defectors refugee status and considers them illegal economic migrants. About 76% to 84% of defectors interviewed in China or South Korea came from the Northeastern provinces bordering China. If the defectors are caught in China, they are repatriated back to North Korea to face harsh interrogations and years of punishment, or even death in political prison camps such as Yodok camp or reeducation camps such as Chungsan camp or Chongori camp.