3000 North Koreans expected to defect South this year

The number of North Korean refugees to head to South Korea this year is expected to exceed 3,000 for the first time in history.

The Unification Ministry of South Korea said 1,748 North Korean defectors made their way south in the first half of this year, up 42.1 percent from a year ago. At this rate, the figure is expected to exceed 3,000 by the end of this year.

[Chosun Ilbo]

Lots of adaptation needed for young North Koreans in the South

North Korean refugees [now living in South Korea] are baffled by street protests such as the rallies against US beef imports and against President Lee Myung-Bak earlier this summer.

“I was shocked to hear them use invectives about the president,” said one interviewee. “In the North, that lands you straight in jail.”

Street demonstrations are part of a major culture shock for young North Korean refugees struggling to adapt to a new life in South Korea, a recent survey shows.
Speeding traffic and skyscrapers are also alien to young people arriving in the democratic capitalist South from their impoverished hardline communist state, according to the findings published by Yonhap news agency.

Young refugees often feel like second-class citizens because they are unfamiliar with South Korean customs.