The total number of North Korean defectors that have entered South Korea has topped 30-thousand.
 
The Unification Ministry said Sunday that seven North Korean escapees arrived in South Korea Friday night through a third country, bringing the cumulative number of defectors to 30-thousand-five.
 
The number of North Korean escapees settling in South Korea exceeded ten-thousand in February 2006, 44 years after a North Korean defected to the South in 1962 for the first time. The figure jumped to 20-thousand in November 2010.
 
Entries by North Korean defectors steadily grew since 2005 until it started to drop from 2012. This year, the number is again rebounding.
 
The ministry said recently, North Koreans are defecting for more various, noneconomic reasons, such as the desire for freedom and disillusionment with the political system and the repressive North Korean regime.