By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
About 20 North Korean defectors who were detained in Thailand will arrive in South Korea this week, the cable news channel YTN reported on Sunday.
They are among 414 North Korean defectors at the Immigration Detention Center (IDC) in Thailand who staged a hunger strike for three days to urge their prompt transfer to Seoul and better treatment in the center.
``I cannot mention their names and flight numbers or schedule for security purposes but the defectors here will soon go to South Korea with 10 to begin with,'' a South Korean diplomat said asking to remain anonymous. ``About 80 to 90 defectors per month will likely fly to South Korea.''
Thailand used to shelter North Korean defectors for two to three months before they were sent to Seoul if they paid the $161 penalty for smuggling themselves into the nation.
However, the number of defectors heading to Thailand has surged and since last November the Bangkok government has postponed sending them to South Korea.
Last Tuesday, the detainees went on a hunger strike demanding their release and asylum in South Korea, the media reported.
They also protested against the poor conditions of the center and lack of medical care.
The defectors ceased their strike two days later when officials from the South Korean Embassy in Bangkok told them they would be brought to Seoul and would not be repatriated to the North.