Voice of America (VOA) is reporting that about half the official trips to China in 2009 by North Korean residents were made in order to find jobs.

VOA cited Chinese tourism statistics to back up its report. According to the data, other purposes of the trips included business deals, tourism projects and family visits.

The number of North Korean men who went to China in 2009 was nine times that of women.

A total of three-point-one million visits to China were made by South Koreans during the same time period, most of which were for tourism purposes.