Pressure on the South Korea - North Korea Relations

The South Korean government is watching the recent development [of 175 North Korean refugees apprehended in Thailand] closely, predicting how the North Korean regime will respond to most of the defectors’ wanting to come to the South, since the already strained relation between the two Koreans after the North’s missile launches might worsen.

After 460 North Korean defectors came to South Korea en masse from Vietnam in July 2004, North Korea protested, suspending contact between the authorities for 10 months.

The number of North Korean defectors to South Korea goes up every year. The number from January to July of this year now stands at 1,054, up 59 percent from the same period last year.

[Dong-A Ilbo]