The number of North Koreans who received refugee
status or sought asylum increased last year from a year earlier, a U.N. report showed Tuesday.
In its 2010 Global Report, published to mark World Refugee Day, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said 917 North Koreans became refugees in a foreign country in 2010, and 277 applied for asylum.
The number was up from 2009 when 881 North Koreans were granted refugee status and 129 sought asylum.
The agency said two of the refugees acquired citizenship in their host countries and were not counted toward the latest statistics.
According to a Voice of America (VOA) report, 17 North Koreans entered the United States as refugees last year, and 120 North Korean defectors have resettled in the U.S. as of May.