Payments to North Korean defectors who provide valuable information about the regime have seen a recent uptick.

According to the office of main opposition Democratic Party(DP) Rep. Kim Sang-hee on Sunday, data from the unification ministry showed that a total of 398 million won was given to 64 North Korean defectors last year, with individual payments ranging from three million to 148 million won.

The figure out of a relatively low total of 67 defectors that entered the country last year amid border lockdowns in the North were eligible for the payment.

Over one-thousand defectors entered the nation during pre-pandemic years between 2014 and 2019, with payments peaking at 51 individuals in 2016.

In the first four months of this year, 15 defectors were paid a total of 163 million won, ranging from three million to 76 million won per person.

While the ministry does not reveal defector identities or reasons for the payments, an unnamed government source was quoted as saying that since the lockdowns, most of those that enter the country have been diplomats and other officials dispatched overseas.