SEOUL: Over 9,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War and the number is expected to reach the 10,000 mark early next year, the Unification Ministry announced on Sunday.

According to ministry statistics, about 7,000 of them arrived in the South since 2002 when the annual defectors totalled more than 1,000 for the first time.

That was after it became a popular way of defection for many North Koreans hiding in China to seek refuge at foreign diplomatic missions. China is obligated to send fleeing North Koreans back home under a bilateral treaty with Pyongyang. But it has allowed most of those who have taken refuge at foreign diplomatic missions to leave the country in an attempt to avoid international criticism.''The number of North Koreans who have arrived here is expected to reach 10,000 around January or February,'' a ministry official said on condition he not be named because he is not authorized to speak to the press.

Defection began increasing in the late 1990s after the North's economy collapsed due to a series of natural disasters and mismanagement, leaving the communist regime unable to feed its people.

Most North Koreans arrive here via China. Defection across the heavily guarded inter-Korean border is rare. Activists claim that tens of thousands of North Koreans live in hiding in China.—AP