Since the division of Korea after the end of World War II, North Koreans have fled from the country in spite of legal punishment for political, ideological, religious, economic, moral, personal, or nutritional reasons. Such North Koreans are referred to as North Korean defectors. Alternative terms in South Korea, where the defectors often end up, include "northern refugees" (, talbukja or , talbukmin) and "new settlers" (, saeteomin). During the North Korean famine of the 1990s, there was an increase in defections, reaching a peak in 1998 and 1999. Some of the main reasons for the falling number of defectors, especially since 2000, are the strict border patrols and inspections, forced deportations, and the rising cost of defection. The most common strategy of North Korean defectors is to cross the Chinese border into Jilin and Liaoning provinces in northeast China. About 76% to 84% of defectors interviewed in China or South Korea came from the Northeastern provinces bordering China. The defectors usually flee to a third country due to China being a relatively close ally of North Korea. China, being the most influential of the few economic partners of North Korea while the country has been under U.N. sanctions for decades, is also the largest, and has been a continuous aid source of the country. To avoid worsening the already tense relations with the Korean Peninsula, China refuses to grant North Korean defectors refugee status and considers them illegal economic migrants. If the defectors are caught in China, they are repatriated back to North Korea, where rights groups say they often face harsh interrogations and years of punishment, or even death, in kwalliso prison camps (such as the Pukch'ang camp), or in kyohwaso reeducation camps (such as the Chungsan camp or Chongo-ri camp). Terms Different terms, official and unofficial, refer to North Korean refugees. On 9 January 2005, the South Korean Ministry of Unification announced the use of saeteomin (, "people of new land") instead of talbukja (, "people who fled the North"), a term about which North Korean officials expressed displeasure. A newer term is bukhanitaljumin (), which has the more forceful meaning of "residents who renounced North Korea". North Korean expert Andrei Lankov has criticized the term "defectors", since most people fleeing the country do not seek refuge because of political dissent, but are instead motivated by material deprivation. Demographics Since 1953, 100,000–300,000 North Koreans have defected, most