North Korean defectors take a computer class inside Anseong Hanawon, Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees, in Anseong, South Korea, July 10. SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
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north korean defectors
Charles Jenkins (left), age 64, his wife Hitomi Soga (second from left) and their daughters arrive at Japan's Sado Island in December 2004, almost 40 years after he defected to North Korea. Jiji Press/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Surveillance footage of the moment a North Korean soldier defects, shown at a press briefing by the United Nations Command at the Defense Ministry in Seoul on Nov. 22, 2017. A North Korean soldier crossed the border into the South in breach of a 1953 armistice agreement, as he pursued a defector who was shot last week, the United Nations Command said. Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
North Korean defectors may face deportation by China as COVID border controls ease
Crash Landing on You, a series on Netflix, has been a hit across the Korean Peninsula since it launched in 2019 — including in the North, where the authorities banned it but it has circulated on smuggled thumb drives. Netflix hide caption
That's 'Comrade' To You! North Korea Fights To Purge Outside Influences On Language
A man sets up portraits of North Korean defector Han Seong-ok and her 6-year-old son, who are believed to have died from starvation, at a makeshift shrine in downtown Seoul on Aug. 28. Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
In South Korea, Anguish Over Deaths Of North Korean Defectors Who May Have Starved
The North Korean flag is flown at Madrid's North Korean embassy, which was was raided in February. Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images hide caption
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Hyeonseo Lee (far left) and other North Korean defectors in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 2, 2018. Zach Gibson-Pool/Getty Images hide caption
North Korean Defector Hopes To See Loved Ones Again — But Remains Skeptical
North Korean soldiers look at the South side as a South Korean stands guard near the spot where a North Korean soldier crossed the border on Nov. 13 at the Panmunjom, in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea. Lee Jin-man/AP hide caption
In this Oct. 12, 2005, photo, U.S. Army deserter Charles Robert Jenkins speaks to reporters in Tokyo. Sadayuki Mikami/AP hide caption
Lee So-yeon, a North Korean defector, used to be a signal corpsman in North Korea's army. Lauren Frayer/NPR hide caption
'I Was Shocked By Freedom': Defectors Reflect On Life In North Korea
Former North Korean deputy ambassador to London Thae Yong Ho speaks during a briefing on Wednesday in Seoul. NurPhoto via Getty Images hide caption
North Korean Defector: Information Flow Will Help Bring Down Kim Jong Un
North Korean restaurants, like this one in Vientiane, Laos, don't just serve North Korean cuisine. They are run by the North Korean government as a way to earn hard currency to send back to an increasingly sanctioned Pyongyang. Elise Hu/NPR hide caption