Korea Joongang Daily
Korea JoongAng Daily

Seoul officially recognizes Pyongyang defector-turned-journalist as North detainee

Ham Jin-woo, a North Korean defector-turned-journalist who went missing in 2017 in border areas between North Korea and China, has been officially recognized by the government as one of seven South Koreans detained in the North.

2026-03-11

자유는 아름다운 부담… 자기결정권 탐구한 탈북자의 자서전

By the time North Korean defector Park Eun-hee decided to write her life story, she had already risked death once.

2026-02-02

Defector reclaims agency, hails freedom as a beautiful burden in memoir

North Korean defector Park Eun-hee recalled her flight to freedom — and the pieces of her homeland that are still a part of her — as she hails the value of liberty in her self-published English autobiography.

2026-01-26

224 North Korean defectors enter South last year, slightly down from 2024

A total of 224 North Korean defectors entered South Korea for resettlement last year, slightly down from the previous year, a Ministry of Unification official said Tuesday.

2026-01-20

North Korean soldier crosses MDL in 1st military defection under Lee administration

A North Korean soldier crossed the heavily fortified border into South Korea on foot on Oct. 19, and several armed North Korean troops breached the military demarcation line that same day in what appeared to be a tense pursuit.

2025-10-24

Unification Ministry reviews changing South Korean term of North Korean defectors

The Unification Ministry said Tuesday it is considering changing the South Korean term for North Korean defectors, noting the word highlights their escape from the North and carries a negative connotation.

2025-09-16

North Korean swims to South, second defection under Lee administration

A North Korean defected to South Korea across the West Sea late last month — the second defection under the Lee Jae Myung administration, following the case of a man who crossed the Military Demarcation Line on the central western front on July 3.

2025-08-07

Defector accused of giving North locations of others in South

Police are investigating a North Korean defector for allegedly sharing the locations of fellow defectors in South Korea with North Korean authorities.

2025-08-04

Man who crossed DMZ in early July wants to defect, says South Korean intelligence source

A North Korean man who crossed the inter-Korean border earlier this month has expressed a clear intent to defect to the South, marking the first known case of a walk-in defection under the Lee Jae Myung administration.

2025-07-31

Presumed defector took methodical route through DMZ, military says

A North Korean man crossed into South Korea on Thursday in what appears to be a carefully planned defection, exploiting gaps in Pyongyang's ongoing construction aimed at severing inter-Korean links within the demilitarized zone.

2025-07-04