List of North Korean defectors in South Korea

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In total, as of 2016, 31,093 North Korean defectors had entered South Korea.[1] By 2020 the number had grown to about 33,000.[2]

1950s

  • 1953
    • No Kum-sok – fighter pilot who flew his MiG-15 to the South. Since this fighter plane was the best the Eastern Bloc had at the time, No's defection was considered an intelligence bonanza and he was awarded a high sum of $100,000 (equivalent to $1,203,358 in 2025) and the right to reside in the United States; his mother had defected two years before in 1951.

1960s

1980s

  • 1982
    • Yi Han-yong – nephew of Kim Jong Il; shot to death in 1997 in Gyeonggi-do by unknown assailants widely suspected to be North Korean agents. This was variously speculated to be an attempt to silence him after his publication of a tell-all book about Kim Jong Il's private life, revenge for his mother Seong Hye-rang's defection a year earlier, or a warning to fellow defector Hwang Jang-yop.[3] His mother (sister of Song Hye-rim, Kim Jong Il's mistress and mother of Kim Jong-nam) defected to Europe in 1996 while his sister Yi Nam-ok had defected to the South in 1992.
  • 1987
  • 1989

1990s

  • 1992
    • Kang Chol-hwan – due to North Korea's policy of collective punishment, Kang was imprisoned at the age of 9 along with his entire family after his father, a Zainichi Korean who had returned to the country, was accused of treason.[5] Kang was released ten years later, fled to China alongside his friend and fellow Yodok internee An Hyuk and defected to South Korea in 1992, where he became a prominent human rights activist and a columnist at The Chosun Ilbo.[6]
    • An Hyuk – formerly lived as an expatriate in China and repatriated to North Korea in 1986; however, he was accused of spying and imprisoned at Yodok concentration camp.[7] He was released three years later, fled to China alongside his friend and fellow Yodok internee Kang Chol-hwan and defected to South Korea in 1992.
    • Lee Soon-ok – high-ranking party member who defected with her son to South Korea via China and Hong Kong after spending seven years in a political prisoner camp at Kaechon
  • 1994
  • 1996
    • Jeong Su-il – North Korean spy captured in 1996 and released in 2000; died in February, 2025.
    • Lee Chul-su - A captain in the 1st Aviation Division of the KPAF before his defection, on May 23, 1996 Lee flew his Shenyang J-6 aircraft over the border to Suwon Air Base, South Korea. He reportedly left behind a wife and two children. Lee was given a reward of 480 million South Korean Won (approx. 400,000 USD). He is currently a colonel in the ROKAF serving as an academic instructor.[8]
  • 1997
  • 1999

2000s

2010s

  • 2012
  • 2013
    • Hyuk[25] – member of South Korean boy band 1Verse. Hyuk was contacted by his mother who requested he join her in South Korea, and he undertook a six-month journey through several countries to escape, arriving in Seoul, South Korea, at age 13.[25][26]
  • 2014
    • Lim Ji-hyun – became a popular television personality after defecting to South Korea but went missing in 2017 before resurfacing in a series of North Korean interviews, prompting fears she had been abducted and returned to the country[27]
    • Kim Kuk-Song - the pseudonym of a senior colonel in the North Korean intelligence service who defected after fearing he would be the victim of a purge following the execution of Jang Song-thaek.[28][29]
  • 2015
    • Pak Sung-won – member of the Supreme People's Assembly and army general[30][31]
    • Kim Kuk-sung[32] – colonel from North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau; South Korean authorities said that he had been responsible for supervising espionage efforts against the South.[33] Senior-level defections are rare, though no motive was released regarding this defection.[34]
  • 2016
    • Lee Chul-eun – former high-ranking government official working for the North Korean Ministry of State Security who defected to South Korea with a friend by swimming across the Yellow Sea[35]
    • Tae Yong-ho – North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom who defected with his wife and children; in 2020, he was elected as a member of the South Korean National Assembly.[36]
    • Ri Jong-yol – defected in Hong Kong while participating in the International Mathematical Olympiad as part of North Korea's national team. He stayed in the South Korean embassy for 80 days before China allowed him to travel to South Korea.[37]
  • 2017
    • Oh Chong-song[38] – soldier who fled North Korea at the Joint Security Area on 13 November 2017. North Korean soldiers fired over 40 rounds at Oh and he was struck five times.[39][40] He survived the shooting, was rescued by South Korean soldiers, and his condition was stabilised at a South Korean hospital after treatment for bullet wounds and multiple intestinal parasitic worms.[41][42]
    • Han Jin Myung – North Korean ambassador to Vietnam[43]
  • 2018
  • 2019
    • Seok[45] – member of South Korean boy band 1Verse. He defected to South Korea in 2019 after several of his uncles had done so.[45] He had been a football player in North Korea, but gave up the sport after defecting.[45]
    • Ryu Hyun-woo – North Korean ambassador to Kuwait[46]


2020s

  • 2020
    • Kim Woo-joo – former gymnast who scaled a barbed wire fence and surrendered to South Korean soldiers. Despite the border being heavily monitored and fortified, it was determined that some of the motion sensors had loose screws that caused them to fail to detect Kim as he crawled past; the incident prompted a review of all sensors along the DMZ.[47] In 2022, he crossed back into North Korea, again via the DMZ.[48]
    • Nam Jisoo (남지수) – former sewing factory worker from Haeju. Nam fled with Threadline 8, a group made entirely of women. Only 3 of the 8 survived the border crossing. Jisoo now lives in Thailand and advocates for textile worker rights.
  • 2021
    • Ryu Daeho (류대호) – a former coal miner from Musan, Ryu escaped with his cousin through an old mining tunnel in 2021. Their group, Shadow Line, had 11 members; only 6 made it across the border. Ryu settled in Mongolia and later moved to Europe.
    • Nam Joohyuk – a fisherman from Chongjin who used his boat to help others escape. He became a target and joined Sea Silence, a group of 10 who fled by sea. A storm sank the boat; only Nam and 2 others reached Japan alive.
    • Jo Dohyun (조도현) – a train operator from Hamhung. Dohyun escaped using a decommissioned railway track, with a group called Iron Whisper. The group of 9 was intercepted — only 2 survived. Jo now lives anonymously in Eastern Europe.
  • 2022
    • Park Junseo (벅준서) – once a propaganda artist in Pyongyang, Park defected with a group called Red Fade. The group of 17 was ambushed near the Yalu River; Park was one of only 3 to survive. He now creates anti-regime art online using a pseudonym.
    • Joo Sanghyun – once a border patrol guard, Joo defected after witnessing multiple public executions. He escaped with Northern Dust, a 7-man unit of rogue soldiers. Only he and one other made it through the Tumen River crossing in winter.
    • Hwang Seojin (황서진) – former guitarist from Kimchaek. He was reported missing in 2022 and was later found out to be a member of a secret club. In 2022, he escaped with a group known as 시크렡 학교 (Secret School), made up of 24 people; less than survived the North Korean guards. He attempted the escape with his older brother, who died during the journey. Hwang was one of 67 unconfirmed defectors that year.
  • 2023
    • Ri Il Kyu [ko] – senior North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba who defected with his wife and children in November, becoming the highest-ranking diplomat from the country to flee since 2016.[49][50]
    • Oh Taeyang – former elite student selected for a propaganda training camp. Disillusioned, he fled in 2023 with Grey Whisper, a secret network of university defectors. Only 3 of the 10 survived. Oh now studies political science abroad.

See also

References

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