Walking down the aisle in a white wedding dress on Saturday evening, Lee Jin-young (alias) seemed like any other South Korean bride on her very special day in life.

Except this was the second wedding ceremony for her with her husband; the first was in North Korea more than a decade ago.

"At that time, my family could not afford a formal ceremony, so we just had an informal one," she told Yonhap News Agency. "Since I arrived here, I have always dreamed of wearing a white wedding gown."

Before fleeing to Seoul in 2011, she saw South Korean dramas with actresses wearing white dresses on their wedding day, which she thought was a fantasy that only happens in movies and dramas.

It was quite a surprise for her, she recalled, to realize that wearing such a dress at weddings is a custom here.

"Some North Koreans do wear the dress too, but it is only the very exceptional people," Lee said.

In North Korea, most weddings are held in the traditional way, inviting over relatives and friends to the house of the bride and groom, Lee said. The bride's family first hosts a party before the newlyweds move to the house of the groom for another party. The couples usually wear hanbok, Korean traditional garments, she added.

The 39-year-old Lee's mother, who also defected to the South, did not miss out on the chance when a local civic group posted an announcement, saying that South Korea's top university is looking for married defector couples who could not afford to hold a wedding ceremony on their own.

As one of its social contribution projects, Seoul National University selected seven couples, ranging from their 30s to 60s, to host a group wedding at the Hoam Faculty House, funding all expenses.

Some, like Lee and her husband, had fled the North with their spouses, while others met their partners in South Korea or China after fleeing.

"Many defectors who suffer from financial difficulties dream of having a wedding ceremony like ordinary South Koreans," said Cho Kyoung-hee of the civic group Mulmangcho who was in charge of selecting the couples.

"I am so happy that my dream came true in the most extraordinary way at this prestigious university," Lee said.

The wedding was officiated by university president Sung Nak-in, with a dozen of its professors singing to congratulate the couples at the end of the ceremony.

About 815 North Koreans defected to South Korea in the first seven months of this year. The accumulated number of North Koreans fleeing to South Korea is expected to surpass the 30,000 mark by late this year. (Yonhap)