A total of 23 North Korean defectors entered the country in the third quarter of this year.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, a unification ministry official said that 14 men and nine women fled to South Korea in the third quarter, which increased the total for the year so far to 42 defectors. 

The tally has dropped by six people, or 13 percent, from the first three quarters of last year.

When asked whether the recent defectors included those who worked at a North Korean restaurant in Uzbekistan, the ministry official declined to elaborate considering status protection and diplomatic ties with relevant countries.

Some media reported that five waitresses from a Tashkent-based North Korean restaurant called "Nae Gohyang," meaning my home town, had escaped one after another and entered South Korea starting May.