Of those who offered positive answers, 47.3 percent cited as the reason the freedom to do work they like and 44.7 percent picked better economic conditions. To the multiple-choice question, about 40 percent answered the idea of earning as much as they work satisfies them, while 28.6 percent said they are happy because they are not under surveillance and control.

Among the people who find life here dissatisfying, 58 percent said economic difficulties are the primary reason, followed by 31.7 percent with prejudice and discrimination against defectors, 25.3 percent with a disparity between their abilities and work they like to do, and 24 percent with the difficulty of adjusting their life to South Korean society and culture.

The survey was conducted June through August last year on 11,914 North Korean defectors aged 15 and older who landed in Seoul between 1997 and 2015. (Yonhap)