President Yoon vows to make South 'place of hope' on first North Korean Defectors' Day

President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed to prevent the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors and promised improved support, including housing and education.

President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with South and North Korean choir members during the commemoration of the inaugural North Korean Defectors' Day at the Blue House on Sunday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged to exert all diplomatic efforts to prevent the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors on Sunday.

“North Korean residents are considered citizens of South Korea according to the Constitution of the Republic of Korea,” Yoon said speaking at the inaugural ceremony of North Korean Defectors' Day held at the Blue House's Yeongbingwan in central Seoul, “and protecting these citizens is the state's fundamental duty.”

Addressing the defectors, Yoon said, “The government will make sure that your steps toward freedom are not in vain.

“No North Korean compatriot seeking refuge in South Korea will be sent back under any circumstances,” Yoon said, in an apparent reference to the controversial forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen during the preceding Moon Jae-in administration in 2019.

“The South Korean government will never turn a blind eye to the suffering of North Korean compatriots,” he said, criticizing the North Korean regime for “trapping its people in a cycle of tyranny and starvation.”

North Korean Defectors' Day, which Yoon promised during a Cabinet meeting in January, marks the first time any administration has organized such a ceremony. Some 200 people, including defectors to South Korea, attended the inaugural ceremony.

The date, July 14, commemorates the enforcement of the North Korean Defectors Protection and Settlement Support Act in 1997, which provides the legal basis for the status and settlement support of defectors.

Yoon outlined three concepts to make South Korea “a place of hope” for defectors: “settlement,” “capability,” and “harmony.”

To ensure stable settlement for North Korean defectors, Yoon pledged to improve the initial settlement support fund, which has remained unchanged since 2005, and to support asset formation through the “Future Happiness Account.”

He also emphasized the need to institutionalize support for the upbringing and education of children born in North Korea, third countries, or domestically in South Korea.

As of April 2023, 71.1 percent of the 1,769 children of North Korean defectors attending elementary, middle, and high schools in South Korea had been born in third countries. They, themselves, are not legally recognized as defectors.

Currently, North Korean defectors receive a basic settlement fund of 10 million won ($7,260) per person, but children born in third countries are not eligible for such support and do not receive housing, education or employment assistance. They receive a child care allowance of 4.5 million won per child, but only if they are younger than 16.

Yoon pledged to provide the same level of support to those children as those born in North Korea.

The president stated that the government, regional authorities and public institutions would take the lead in providing employment opportunities for North Korean defectors. He promised to offer incentives, such as tax credits, to private companies that employ defectors.

Although the North Korean Defectors Protection and Settlement Support Act allows for financial support or tax reductions for companies hiring defectors, this has not been applied due to its exclusion from tax credits.

Yoon also introduced mentoring programs offered by the National Unification Advisory Council, which began this year. He expressed support for the formation of self-reliant communities where earlier defectors assist newcomers.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, takes a commemorative photo with the Challengers, a baseball team of young North Korean defectors, at a send-off event to the United States at the Blue House in central Seoul on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Following the ceremony, Yoon attended a send-off event for the “Challengers,” a baseball team of young North Korean defectors who will visit the United States.

Founded in 2018 as the first baseball team for North Korean defector youth in South Korea, the Challengers will spend July 18 to 29 in the United States watching Major League games and participating in friendly events with youth baseball teams in New York and Washington.

BY SEO JI-EUN,HYUN IL-HOON [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]