defectors

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Celebrity Defector Reappears in N. Korea

South suspects she was kidnapped

(Newser) - A defector from North Korea who became a well-known TV personality in South Korea has reappeared in the North—and not everyone is convinced that her claims to be happy there after a hellish existence in the South are genuine. In a propaganda video released by Pyongyang on Sunday, Lim...

South Korea: Defectors From North Get $860K

Quadruples the amount offered to people with information

(Newser) - As if leaving behind a murderous authoritarian regime weren't reward enough, South Korea is sweetening the pot for would-be defectors from the north: Seoul announced it will quadruple the reward for North Koreans who come bearing any "intelligence and knowledge that can enhance South Korea’s security,"...

Kim Jong Un Reportedly Hit By More Defections

Gov't says asylum seekers haven't contacted Japan

(Newser) - One or two officials may have followed the lead of a diplomat in London and defected from North Korea. A Health Ministry official stationed at North Korea's embassy in Beijing—tasked with sourcing medical supplies for a clinic visited by Kim Jong Un and his family—has reportedly sought...

North Korea Suffers 'Highest-Ranking' Defection

Thae Yong Ho has defected to South Korea

(Newser) - A North Korean diplomat stationed in London vanished in mid-July, and Seoul is now explaining why: Thae Yong Ho has defected to South Korea, in what the BBC reports could be the "highest-ranking" defection North Korea has experienced. The New York Times calls Thae the "No. 2" official...

For 18 Years, an Ordinary Korean Couple Have Kept a Big Secret

Ko Yong Suk tells the 'Washington Post' she is Kim Jong Un's aunt

(Newser) - For 18 years, a North Korean couple have lived a life in America that their friends call "lucky"—they run a dry-cleaning business and have three successful children. But these are no ordinary immigrants. For the first time, Ko Yong Suk and husband Ri Gang are revealing their...

Alleged American ISIS Fighter: I Followed a Girl

Mohamad Jamal Khweis says he made a 'bad decision'

(Newser) - The accused ISIS defector from Virginia says he made a "bad decision" and now regrets his actions. In an interview with K24 TV , Mohamad Jamal Khweis, 26, says he left the US in December, visited London and Amsterdam, then arrived in Turkey, where he met a woman from Mosul,...

American ISIS Defector Reportedly Detained

Kurdish forces questioning Virginia man, 27, in Iraq

(Newser) - A Virginia man who reportedly went overseas to fight with the Islamic State has been detained in Iraq, according to Kurdish reports cited by CBS News . The US embassy in Baghdad is trying to confirm that the man identified as 27-year-old Muhammad Jamal Amin showed up at a checkpoint near...

Army Deserter Shacked Up in Russian Forest for 11 Years

30-year-old's own family thought he was dead, buried another man by mistake

(Newser) - For more than a decade, a Russian army deserter was believed dead and buried—until he turned up recently hiding out in the woods in a remote eastern part of the country, the Guardian reports. A police spokeswoman said Monday that cops on the Kamchatka peninsula hauled in a 30-year-old...

ISIS Defections Show Cracks in Armor: Officials

Group has lost 23K fighters since '14; unclear if the trend will continue

(Newser) - Islamic State fighters have been defecting over the last month, military officials say, a sign that US-led bombing and other efforts that have killed 23,000 militants since 2014—3,000 since mid-October—are taking a toll on the group, USA Today reports. However, experts say, it's too early...

Why ISIS Members Quit: Boredom, No Luxury Cars

Should defectors be given a helping hand?

(Newser) - ISIS recruits are fleeing the Jihadist group for various reasons—including their use as suicide bombers, the lack of luxury cars, and the sheer boredom of duties that don't involve frontline fighting, according to a new report . Published today by a London-based think tank, the report calls defectors "...

China Not Messing Around Hunting Down Fugitive in US

Brother of ex-aide to ex China president may have 'sensitive' info on Chinese leaders

(Newser) - The Obama administration has warned China to stop sending over undercover agents to wrangle its "economic fugitives," but that hasn't stopped Xi Jinping's henchmen from traveling overseas to find the brother of a man who used to be a top aide to ex-Chinese President Hu Jintao....

Defector May Reveal Human Experiments in North Korea

Scientist reportedly fled to Finland

(Newser) - A North Korean scientist has defected to Finland, and he may have evidence that his native country has been conducting ghastly experiments on humans involving chemical weapons, reports the South's Yonhap News Agency . The scientist is identified only as a 47-year-old named Lee who worked at a facility in...

2 Cuban Baseball Players Defect to US

Pair stays in North Carolina during exhibition match

(Newser) - Relations between the US and Cuba are warming , but apparently not fast enough for two Cuban baseball players. The pair defected while in the United States for a series of games against US collegians. Official sports website Jit says third baseman Luis Yander La O left the team in North...

In Rarest of Moves, Defector Walks Across the DMZ

Teen risked land mines, gunfire to reach South Korean post

(Newser) - For the first time in three years, a North Korean soldier has defected to the South after walking through the 2.5-mile-wide Demilitarized Zone that separates the two countries. South Korea's defense ministry says a teenager reached a South Korean guard post today in Hwacheon and was taken into...

North Korea Defector Walks Back Parts of His Story

Shin Dong-Hyuk is key figure in accounts of country's abuses

(Newser) - Shin Dong-hyuk's life story has helped the outside world establish a picture of abuses in North Korea: He says he escaped from a prison known as Camp 14, and he has served as a witness to the UN and as the source for an international best-seller. Now, however, he...

N. Korea Tries to Woo Back Defectors With ... TV Fame?

Returnees supposedly offered money, TV appearances

(Newser) - North Korea is trying to woo back defectors with promises of cash rewards and TV appearances instead of one-way tickets to the gulags where an estimated 200,000 of their countrymen languish, defectors in Seoul tell Reuters . Around 25,000 defectors live in South Korea and some of them say...

North Korea Soldier Kills Officers, Defects

He says he shot two superiors near border

(Newser) - A rarity in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea today: A soldier from the North defected and claims to have killed two commanding officers in order to do so, reports the Voice of America . Soldiers in the South heard about six shots, then allowed the soldier to cross...

Ex-PM: Assad Only Controls 30% of Syria

'The regime is falling apart,' Riad Hijab says

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad's days sound awfully numbered if you listen to ex-Prime Minister Riad Hijab. "The regime is falling apart morally, materially, economically," the defector told reporters in Jordan today. "Its military is rusting and it controls only 30% of Syria's territory." Hijab wasn't...

As Aleppo Shelling Continues, Rebels Get More Daring

But Syrian rebels may be making progress

(Newser) - The battle for Aleppo has been going on for more than two weeks now, and the fighting spread to new parts of Syria's biggest city today. Government troops have been shelling the parts of the city the rebels control, but the opposition continues to attempt to expand its hold,...

Syrian PM Defects: Rebels
 Syrian PM Defects: Rebels 
Aug 6, 2012 6:19 AM CDT

Syrian PM Defects: Rebels

But government claims Riad Hijab was fired

(Newser) - The Syrian opposition is claiming a big defection to its side: Prime Minister Riad Hijab. Hijab, who became prime minister two months ago, would be the highest-level defection of the uprising so far, the AP reports. An opposition source tells CBS that Hijab and his family are already out of...

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