The number of North Koreans fleeing the isolated country to South Korea dropped almost 15 per cent in the first nine months of 2017, according to figures released on Sunday.
In total, 881 North Koreans defected to South Korea, down from 1,036 in the same period last year, a fall of 14.9 per cent, Yonhap News Agency reported citing statistics from the Unification Ministry.
There were reports of stricter surveillance and ramped up security on the border under the rule of leader Kim Jong-un, who took power in Pyongyang in 2011 on the death of his father.
Just over 31,000 North Korean defectors were registered with South Korea's Unification Ministry in September, 71 per cent of them women.
--IANS
ksk