In 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law the North Korean Human Rights Act, which was subsequently reauthorized in 2008 and again in 2012. Among other things, this act made North Korean refugees eligible for political asylum in the United States.

Due to factors such as having a shared language, similar cultures and relative proximity, the vast majority of North Korean defectors who have been granted asylum select to resettle in South Korea, where they undergo intensive training at the Hanawon facility and receive cash stipends from the South Korean government.