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Twenty-five North Koreans, mostly workers and students, defected to South Korea after fleeing their poverty-stricken communist homeland, South Korean officials said Friday.
The National Intelligence Service said the North Koreans came to Seoul through an unspecified third country. Fifteen of the North Koreans will be united with relatives already in Seoul, officials said.
More than 240 North Koreans have defected to South Korea this year. In 2000, 312 North Koreans sought asylum in South Korea, up from 148 in 1999.
Most arrived from China, where thousands of North Koreans are believed to be hiding.
