Overview
- Officials say the North Korea–China frontier remains largely sealed under 2020 rules that created buffer zones and authorized lethal enforcement.
- Rights researchers report expanded Chinese surveillance in transit hubs such as Yunnan is making onward travel to third countries more difficult.
- Seoul plans to consolidate Hanawon by moving the Hwacheon center’s basic program for men to Anseong, with gender-specific training to continue.
- Of the 2025 arrivals, 198 were women and 26 were men, bringing the cumulative total since 1998 to 34,538.
- After a record low of 63 in 2021, arrivals rebounded to 196 in 2023 and 236 in 2024 but remain about one-fifth of pre-pandemic levels.