N. Korean defectors to S. Korea reach 105 in H1: official

The number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea reached 105 in the first half of the year, slightly up from a year earlier, a unification ministry official said Tuesday.A total of 43 North Koreans entered the South from January to March this year while another 62 arrived here in the April-June period, the official told reporters.Ninety-nine North Korean defectors came to South Korea in the first half of last year, according to government data.South Korea has a longstanding policy of accepting any North Korean defectors who wish to live in the South.South Korea is home to more than 34,000 North Korean defectors, and the flow of defectors continues amid chronic food shortages and harsh political oppression in North Korea.Source: Yonhap News Agency