SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) -- Fewer North Korean defectors entered South Korea in the first two months of this year, compared with a year earlier, Seoul's unification ministry said Sunday, due mainly to tightened border control in the communist country.

"The number of North Korean defectors who entered the country is 206 as of the end of February," a ministry official said. The number for the first two months of this year represents 84.6 percent of the total 238 North Korean defectors who entered South Korea during the same period last year, according to data.