South Korean President Promises To Prevent Repatriation Forcing North Korean Defenders

Illustration - North Korean Flag. (ANTARA/Anadolu/aa)

JAKARTA - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol insists that his party will fight to prevent North Koreans fleeing overseas, being forcibly repatriated against their will.

In remarks in front of some 200 defectors and their family members on the first anniversary of North Korean Defenders' Day in Seoul on Sunday, he said all diplomatic steps would be sought to achieve this.

"Their struggle for freedom serves as a reminder of how freedom can change a person's destiny," said the President of South Korea, as reported by Antara.

"I will try my best to ensure that all defectors from North Korea are accepted by the Republic of Korea," Yoon said, referring to South Korea's official name.

To that end, Yoon said that his party would significantly increase relocation subsidies for defectors, whose numbers have not risen since 2005.

In addition to pledging to ensure that the central government, local governments, and government agencies employ more defectors from North Korea, he also promised to provide financial incentives for private companies that employ defectors.

In a cabinet meeting last January, Yoon ordered the South Korean Unification Ministry to set one day to warn North Korean defectors. He stressed that based on the constitution, defectors are South Korean citizens.

The ministry then designated July 14 as a defector warning day, which is in accordance with the date of the law that protects and supports the relocation of defectors to South Korea, which was passed in 1997.