North Korean soldiers stand guard at a sentry on the Yalu River near the North Korean city of Hyesan, Ryanggang province, opposite the Chinese border city of Linjiang, in this September 21, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Stringer/Files CHINA OUT
SEOUL (Reuters) - It's much more dangerous, and twice as expensive, to defect from North Korea since Kim Jong Un took power in Pyongyang three and a half years ago, refugees and experts say, and far fewer people are escaping from the repressive and impoverished country.
With barbed-wire fencing erected on both sides of the Tumen River that marks the border with China, more guard posts and closer monitoring of cross-border phone calls, the number of North Koreans coming annually to the South via China has halved since 2011.
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