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N. Korean defectors arriving in South up 42 pct in H1
SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) -- The number of North Korean defectors who arrived in South Korea rose 42 percent in the first half of this year from a year ago, the Unification Ministry said Tuesday.
The ministry estimated the number of North Korean defectors coming to the South in the first six months of this year to be 1,744, up 41.7 percent from 1,230 during the same period last year. The figure represented a growth of 101 percent from 869 in the corresponding period in 2006.
A ministry official said the government is swiftly processing entries for defectors waiting in third countries to come to South Korea.
The number of North Koreans who have defected to the South since 1998 has reached about 14,000, including 2,544 in 2007 alone.
During a summit meeting on Monday, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak asked his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, to prevent Beijing from forcibly repatriating North Korean defectors in consideration of their human rights.
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