The remains of a North Korean defector have been found at her home in western Seoul.

According to police on Monday, a representative from the Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation(SH) found the skeletal remains of a woman in her 40s inside her public rental apartment in Seoul's Yangcheon District last Wednesday.

The SH official visited the apartment unit after failing to establish contact with the woman even after her housing contract renewal period had passed. Her rent and maintenance fees were also overdue for nearly two years. 

The police suspect that the woman died some time last winter as her remains were covered in winter clothing. The exact cause of death is to be determined through an autopsy.

The woman, who had fled North Korea to arrive in South Korea in 2002, was hailed as an exemplary case of defector resettlement by local media. She had worked as a counselor for fellow defectors until 2017. She is believed to have lived an isolated life prior to her lonely death.