Defecting from North Korea is now harder
That was harrowing.<p>There were a couple things I didn&#x27;t understand:<p>1. What changed about China&#x27;s surveillance systems or procedures to make them ~20x more effective at catching refugees in a couple years?<p>2. There&#x27;s a bit about how North Korean refugees can apply for asylum in South Korea. I was under the impression (from Barbara Demick&#x27;s book <i>Nothing to Envy</i>) that all North Koreans are more or less granted asylum by default. My recollection is that she put it even more strongly in her book: that SK in effect treated fleeing North Korean citizens as de facto citizens of South Korea, because they are meant to be one country. Is the asylum process mentioned here a rubber stamp, or did the process get more strict? Would a refugee from North Korea ever be refused asylum in South Korea?