N. Korean student defectors increase 3.5-fold since 2006: report

SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- The number of North Korean student defectors in South Korea soared by more than 3.5 times over the past five years, government data showed Friday.
A total of 1,681 elementary, middle and high school students fleeing from the communist country reside here in 2011, up 235.9 percent from 475 in 2006, according to the report by the education ministry and submitted to parliament for a regular audit.
Elementary school students accounted for 60.7 percent of the defector students below college level, followed by high school students with 22.2 percent and middle school students with 17.1 percent, the report showed.
The total number of North Koreans defecting to the South surpassed the 20,000 mark in November last year for the first time, almost double from around 10,200 in 2006, according to the Unification Ministry data.
Meanwhile, the dropout rate of North Korean defectors in schools here has gradually decreased over the past few years, from 10.8 percent in 2007 to 6.1 percent in 2008 to 4.7 percent in 2010, according to the report, a sign that efforts to help support young North Korean defectors paid off.
Reasons for their withdrawal from the regular schooling include adjustment failure, responsibilities for housework and taking a school qualification exam instead of completing high school for entering college, the report showed.
"More thorough and systematic preparation for the defector students is a must, concerning that their dropout rate is much higher than that of South Korean students," said Rep. Kim Choon-jin of the main opposition Democratic Party, who requested the data from the ministry.
graceoh@yna.co.kr
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