Emotions ran high for these sixty-nine North Korean defectors.<br/> <br />They were graduating from their school in South Korea.<br/> <br />The academy was set up in 2006 to prepare young defectors for the huge changes they face living in a capitalist state.<br/> <br />Teachers also couldn't hold back their tears as they bid farewell.<br/> <br />The teachers knelt down and washed the graduates' feet, as a symbol of new lives for the students.<br/> <br />One defector who had watched changes in his country from afar felt the new leader would be nothing more than a puppet.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 20-YEAR-OLD NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR PARK JU-HYON SAYING:<br/> <br />"Former leader Kim Jong-il's aides will make (the current leader) Kim Jong-un a puppet. Kim Jong-un is just a member of the new leadership and he has no charisma."<br/> <br />Seoul's unification ministry statistics showed over 20,000 North Koreans have defected to the South to escape poverty and repression.<br/> <br />Sophia Soo, Reuters.
