South Korean defectors

During subsequent decades of the Cold War, some people of South Korean origin defected to North Korea as well.

They include Roy Chung, a former U.S. Army soldier who defected to North Korea through East Germany in 1979.

Since South Korea does not permit its naturalized citizens to travel to the North, they have made their way back to their home country illegally, and thus became "double defectors".

[1] However, the exact number of prisoners of war held by North Korea and China has been disputed since 1953, due to unaccounted South Korean soldiers.

[3] In 1985, Ra il Ryong, a South Korean private, defected to North Korea and requested asylum.

Some South Koreans also accused North Korea of attempting to kidnap them while staying abroad.

[10] South Korea's Unification Ministry officially recognizes only 13 cases of double defectors as of 2014[update].

[18] One person who attempted to defect was shot and killed by South Korean military forces in September 2013.