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North Korean defectors

In 2025, 223 North Korean defectors entered Korea (provisional). Cumulative arrivals number 34,537, of whom 24,944 (72.2%) are women. The peak year was 2009, with 2,914.

Source: Ministry of Unification, North Korean Defectors Entering the South (as of the end of December 2025, provisional).

Note: The Ministry of Unification table reports the years through 2001 in two blocks (947 people through 1998 and 1,043 people from 1999 to 2001, 1,990 in total). Adding those blocks to the yearly figures in the chart gives exactly the cumulative total.

Note: North Korean defectors become citizens of the Republic of Korea on arrival, so they are counted in neither registered foreigners nor staying foreigners. MOU counts them separately, and the figures cannot be added to MOJ or MOIS statistics.

Table 1.Cumulative arrivals through 2025 (as of end-December 2025, provisional)Unit: persons, %
CategoryValueUnit
Cumulative arrivals34,537 persons
Men9,593 persons
Women24,944 persons
Female share72.2%
Through 1998947 persons
1999-20011,043 persons
Peak year2009
Arrivals that year2,914 persons

Source: Ministry of Unification, arrivals of North Korean defectors.

Note: the cumulative and sex figures cover everyone, including the bracket through 1998. The two brackets plus the yearly figures in Figure 1 add exactly to the cumulative total.

Figure 1.Arrivals by year, 2002–2025Unit: persons

Source: Ministry of Unification, arrivals of North Korean defectors.

Note: the years through 2001 are reported as brackets (947 through 1998 and 1,043 in 1999-2001) and so are not in the yearly series. Arrivals fell sharply from 2020 with border closures.

View as table
YearArrivals
20021,142
20031,285
20041,898
20051,384
20062,028
20072,554
20082,803
20092,914
20102,402
20112,706
20121,502
20131,514
20141,397
20151,275
20161,418
20171,127
20181,137
20191,047
2020229
202163
202267
2023196
2024236
2025223

Relation to other statistics

North Korean arrivals become citizens of the Republic of Korea on entry, so they appear in neither the registered nor the staying foreign population. The Ministry of Unification counts them separately, and the figures cannot be added to those on other pages.

There are no district-level values. MOU does not publish the regional distribution, and this count appears in no cell of any district report.