List of North Korean defectors in South Korea explained

This is a list of notable defectors from North Korea to South Korea. In total,, 31,093 North Korean defectors had entered South Korea.^[1] By 2020 the number had grown to about 33,000.^[2] The dates shown below are the dates that the defectors arrived in South Korea.

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 and the right to reside in the United States; his mother had defected two years before in 1951.

1960s

• 1968
  • Kim Shin-jo – part of a 31-man commando team sent to South Korea to assassinate then-President Park Chung Hee on 21 January. This led to retaliation in what is known as the Silmido incident. After his life was spared, he became a missionary and has written books on how he found inner peace in Christianity.

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
  • Kim Hyon-hui – planted the bomb that brought down Korean Air Flight 858 but was extradited to South Korea and ultimately pardoned for her crime after being caught in Bahrain and attempting suicide^[4]
• 1989
  • Lee Sang-jo – former North Korean ambassador to the Soviet Union and army general

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
  • Cho Myung-chul – economist; in 2012, he was elected as a member of the South Korean National Assembly.
• 1996
  • Jeong Su-il – North Korean spy captured in 1996 and released in 2000; currently a historian in South Korea
• 1997
  • Hwang Jang-yop – former Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly. Hwang is the highest ranking North Korean official to defect. His aide, Kim Dok-hong, defected with him.^{[8] [9]}
  • Jang Yeong-jin – former soldier and the only openly gay North Korean defector^{[10] [11]}
  • Lee Hyeon-seo – defected in 1997 and currently lives in Seoul as a student, wrote The Girl with Seven Names about her escape from North Korea, and later guiding her family out of North Korea through China and Laos
  • Yoo Sang-joon – defected to China, later arrived in South Korea and from there helped smuggle his son from China and Mongolia to South Korea
• 1999
  • Yun Myung-chan – former North Korean international footballer and manager of the North Korea national football team^[12]
  • Jang Gil-su – fled North Korea at the age of 15 and became famous in South Korea following publication there and in the U.S. media of his crayon drawings, which depict abuses by North Korean authorities against North Korean civilians
  • Park Sang-hak – worked in a propaganda unit of the Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League until his family fled to South Korea. His work to spread information into North Korea resulted in an assassination attempt in 2011; participated in the Oslo Freedom Forum in 2009 and has released balloons from South Korea through Fighters for a Free North Korea resulting in multiple arrests^[13]
  • Kim Seong-min – defected in 1997 after he was accused of espionage and sentenced to death and arrived in South Korea in 1999; founded Free North Korea Radio

2000s

• 2000
  • Paek Se-yun – member of the Supreme People's Assembly
• 2001
  • Choi Kwang-hyouk – defected after his left leg was amputated below the knee by doctors following a train accident. He won the bronze medal in para ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.
• 2002
  • Kyong Won-ha – chief scientist of North Korea's nuclear program who defected to the West and took with him many of the secrets of the atomic program pioneered since 1984. He was one of 20 scientists and military officers who were smuggled out of North Korea during the alleged Operation Weasel.
  • Jin Gyeong-suk – arrived in South Korea in 2002. She was abducted two years later and forcefully deported back to North Korea where she was tortured and died in custody in January 2005.^[14]
  • Joo Seong-ha – currently a journalist with The Dong-A Ilbo
• 2003
  • Kim Cheol-woong^[15] – classically trained musician who has performed in the U.S.^{[16] [17]}
  • Jeong Kwang-il – former prisoner who currently smuggles films, soap operas, and entertainment on DVDs and USB thumb drives (some of which contain an offline copy of Wikipedia) into North Korea
• 2004
  • Mun Ki-nam – former international footballer and manager of both the North Korea women and North Korea men's national football teams^[18]
  • Jang Jin-sung – psychological warfare officer within the United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea^[19]
• 2005
  • Shin Dong-hyuk – defector and author notable for giving testimony on North Korean living conditions to the United Nations. In 2015, he confessed to lying about many aspects of his life in North Korea.
• 2006
  • Ji Seong-ho – human rights activist; in 2020, he was elected as a member of the South Korean National Assembly.
• 2007
  • Li Gyong-hui – former Olympic gymnast^[20]
• 2009
  • Yeonmi Park – best-selling author and prominent activist among American conservatives, described as being "one of the most famous North Korean defectors in the world".^[21] Journalistic investigations by The Diplomat and The Washington Post concerning Park's stories of life in North Korea charged that she had embellished and even fabricated many of her claims about North Korea.^{[22] [23]}

2010s

• 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^[24]
  • Kim Kuk-Song - 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.^{[25] [26]}
• 2015
  • Pak Sung-won – member of the Supreme People's Assembly and army general^{[27] [28]}
  • Kim Kuk-sung^[29] – colonel from North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau; South Korean authorities said that he had been responsible for supervising espionage efforts against the South.^[30] Senior-level defections are rare, though no motive was released regarding this defection.^[31]
• 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^[32]
  • 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.^[33]
  • 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.^[34]
• 2017
  • Oh Chong-song^[35] – 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.^{[36] [37]} 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.^{[38] [39]}
  • Han Jin Myung – North Korean ambassador to Vietnam^[40]
• 2018
  • – North Korean ambassador to Italy^[41]
• 2019
  • Ryu Hyun-woo – North Korean ambassador to Kuwait^[42]

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 Kim as he crawled past; the incident prompted a review of all sensors along the DMZ.^[43] In 2022, he crossed back into North Korea, again via the DMZ.^[44]
• 2023
  • – 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^{[45] [46]}

See also

• North Koreans in South Korea
• South Korean defectors

Notes and References

1. Web site: Policies North Korean Defectors . Ministry of Unification . 5 December 2017 .
2. News: North Korea Thinks He Brought Covid-19. The South Wanted to Arrest Him.. New York Times. July 27, 2020. Choe. Sang-hun. Choe Sang-hun.
3. News: Korean shooting is casting cloud on signs of thaw. The New York Times. Pollack. Andrew. 17 February 1997. 30 October 2007.
4. News: Exclusive: My life as a North Korean super spy. April 10, 2013. Mark. Willacy. Mark Willacy.
5. Web site: Child prisoner: Kang Chol Hwan. 29 October 2003. NBC News.
6. Web site: Can N.Koreans Topple Their Dictator?. The Chosun Ilbo. 2 March 2024 .
7. 2003-07-16 . Three N. Koreans Named Winner of NED's Democracy Award . YON – Yonhap News Agency of Korea . 2010-02-26.
8. Book: Barbara Demick

   . Barbara Demick . Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea . Barbara . Demick . . 66. 2010 . UK . 978-1-84708-141-4.

9. News: Scanlon. Charles. US pressure on 'criminal' N Korea. BBC News. 2 November 2012. 18 April 2006.
10. Web site: A defector tells what it's like to be gay in North Korea . SBS News.
11. Web site: North Korea's only openly gay defector: 'it's a weird life' . The Guardian. 18 February 2016 .
12. Web site: 前 北축구대표감독 윤명찬씨 '3대 상봉' 南서 첫 설. Former North Korean soccer coach Yun Myong-chan's '3rd reunion' first New Year's in the South. 4 February 2000. 29 December 2021. JoongAng Ilbo. Korean.
13. Web site: Feith. David. Park Sang Hak: North Korea's Enemy Zero. The Wall Street Journal. 6 July 2013. 5 July 2013.
14. //www.amnesty.org/en/stay-informed/enewsletters/wire/february-2010-march-2010-pdf-24-pages-167-mb Amnesty International: Newsletter THE WIRE
15. Web site: N.Korean risks life, flees for love of jazz piano . redOrbit. 23 March 2006.
16. Web site: INVITATION. NK Economic Watch. 20 March 2013.
17. Web site: Sang-Hun. Choe . North Korean defector's flight to musical freedom. The New York Times. 20 March 2013. 17 December 2008.
18. Web site: 前 북한축구대표팀 감독 망명…中거쳐 올1월 입국. Former North Korean national football team coach exiled... Arrived in January this year via China. 11 March 2004. 29 December 2021. The Dong-a Ilbo. Korean.
19. Web site: Jang Jin-sung, North Korean Poet, Writes Of Hunger, Brutality In The Country. Sylvia Hui. Jul 1, 2012. Associated Press. www.huffingtonpost.com. He says he was one of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's favorite propaganda artists, singing the praises of the Dear Leader in dozens of poems. But these days Jang Jin-sung says he prefers to tell the truth about North Korea..
20. Web site: 새터민 체조 지도자 "성적으로 보답".
21. News: Sommer . Will . 16 July 2023 . A North Korean defector captivated U.S. media. Some question her story . . 21 July 2023.
22. News: Sommer . Will . 16 July 2023 . A North Korean defector captivated U.S. media. Some question her story . . 21 July 2023.
23. News: Jolley . Mary Ann . 10 December 2014 . The Strange Tale of Yeonmi Park . . 15 June 2021.
24. News: 2017-07-18. North Korean TV star defector Lim Ji-hyun feared abducted. BBC News. 2021-03-07.
25. News: Lee . Dong-hoon . Park . Su-hyeon . Defector speaks out: How North Korea’s diplomatic maneuvers could isolate South Korea . 10 November 2024 . The Chosun Daily . 22 September 2024 . en.
26. News: Drugs, arms, and terror: A high-profile defector on Kim's North Korea . 10 November 2024 . BBC News . 10 October 2021.
27. Web site: [단독] 망명 북한 장성 박승원, 국내 정보기관서 합동심문 아시아엔 ]. kor.theasian.asia . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150706140434/http://kor.theasian.asia/archives/140451 . 2015-07-06.
28. Web site: ① 북한 간부들, 김정은 '공포정치'에 동요. 6 July 2015.
29. Web site: 2021-10-11 . "北공작원, 靑근무후 월북… 시민단체 여러곳서 암약" . 2022-03-16 . . ko.
30. Web site: Going South: Top North Korean colonel defects. USA Today. John Bacon. 11 April 2016. 11 April 2016.
31. Web site: Seoul: Senior North Korea military officer defects to South. Associated Press. Hyung-Jin Kim. 11 April 2016. 11 April 2016. 1 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160501141044/http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/fa7f22f77f8243cb93be838237d6c3cc/seoul-senior-north-korea-military-officer-defects-south. dead.
32. live . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/t9rLqYXTaFI . 2021-12-11. We Interviewed A Former Elite North Korean Spy Stay Curious #36 . YouTube.
33. News: North Korea diplomat defects to South. 17 August 2016. BBC News. 2016-08-17.
34. News: How North Korean maths-whizz defector escaped through Hong Kong . Kristin Huang. 26 Feb 2017. SCMP. 2023-05-27.
35. Web site: North Korean Defector's Survival A 'Miracle,' South Korean Surgeon Says . Pritha Paul . . 5 December 2017 . 5 December 2017 .
36. http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/22/health/north-korea-defector-parasites-health/index.html What parasitic worms in defector reveal about conditions in North Korea
37. News: Soldier shot by North Korean guards while defecting to the South . Paula . Hancocks . Ben . Westcott . CNN . 14 November 2017 . 19 November 2017 .
38. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-42075986/north-korea-defection-footage-of-moment-soldier-flees North Korea defection: Footage of moment soldier flees
39. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42068429 North Korea defector wakes after being shot crossing the DMZ
40. News: Trump-Kim summit: The sorry fate of North Korea's diplomat defectors . . 22 February 2019 .
41. News: Missing North Korean ambassador 'living in South' . . 7 October 2020 .
42. News: Brown . Lee . North Korea's ambassador to Kuwait defects to South Korea as diplomats flee . 27 January 2021 . nypost.com . 2021-01-25.
43. News: 27 November 2020. How Did the North Korean Defector Cross the Border? Loose Screws. The New York Times.
44. News: Starling . Boris . 2022-01-07 . The inside story of the man who defected from North Korea and then went back again . en-GB . The Telegraph . 2023-06-29 . 0307-1235.
45. News: 16 July 2024 . A North Korean diplomat in Cuba defected to South Korea in November, Seoul says . ABC News . 16 July 2024.
46. News: 16 July 2024 . A senior N. Korean diplomat defected to S. Korea from Cuba, Chosun Ilbo says . The Asahi Shimbun . 16 July 2024.