A number of individuals have
defected from North Korea. Since the
division of Korea after
World War II and the end of the
Korean War (1950–1953), many people have defected from North Korea, mainly for
political,
ideological,
religious and
economic reasons. The most famous defection occurred after signing of the armistice ending the Korean War, on September 21, 1953, when then 21-year old
No Kum-Sok, a senior
lieutenant in the
North Korean air force, flew his
MiG-15 to the
South and is associated with
Operation Moolah. Considered an intelligence bonanza, since this fighter plane was then the best the Communist bloc had, No was awarded the then immense sum of $100,000 and the right to reside in the United States. An offer to return the MiG was ignored, and the airframe now on display at the
National Museum of the United States Air Force,
Dayton, Ohio.Many more are caught during the attempted defection. The usual strategy is to cross the border into
Jilin and
Liaoning provinces in
Northeast China before fleeing to a third country, because the
People's Republic of China, a close
ally of Pyongyang, refuses to grant North Korean defectors refugee status and considers them
illegal economic migrants. If the defectors are caught in China, they are repatriated back to North Korea to face years of punishment or even death in
North Korean gulags.
Terms
Different terms are in official and unofficial use to refer to this group of
refugees. On 9 January 2005, the South Korean
Ministry......
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