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North Korean Defectors: How 30,000+ Got Out and Start Over

20240602 075300 DMZ Imjingak 01 (north korean defectors)

More than 30,000 North Korean defectors have reached South Korea, most of them via China. The usual path runs across a border river into China, through China to a third country, then to Seoul for security screening and 12 weeks at Hanawon (하나원), the government’s resettlement school, before a new life in a country that shares their language but very little else.