Dobong-gu Launches Seoul's First 'Visiting Care Service for North Korean Defectors' Program

Seoul's First Settlement Support for North Korean Defectors: 'Our Neighborhood Care Membership, Annyeong (安寧)' System Implemented

Our Neighborhood Care Membership (Paper) Card

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Dobong-gu (Mayor Dongjin Lee) will implement the ‘Our Neighborhood Care Membership, Annyeong (安寧)’ program starting in September for about 150 North Korean defectors.

Following last year’s case of a mother and child death among North Korean defectors in Gwanak-gu and the higher suicide impulse rate (2.5 times) compared to the general public, the importance of mental health management for defectors has emerged. However, settlement support management is focused only on the first five years of early settlement, and close management remains difficult in reality.

Accordingly, the district operates the ‘Our Neighborhood Care Membership, Annyeong (安寧)’ membership service, which provides integrated monitoring for newly arrived and existing North Korean defectors who are experiencing difficulties during settlement.

The services provided include ▲mandatory initial consultation upon new resident registration ▲health consultation and management visits by professional nurses (telephone consultation management during emergencies such as the COVID-19 situation) ▲provision of customized nutritional supplements ▲professional case management for those requiring focused case management, offering integrated and continuous services across various fields rather than limited to one area.

In particular, centered on the visiting community service centers, the program collaborates with related organizations such as the Seoul Northern Hana Foundation, Dobong Police Station, and local welfare institutions to provide necessary services through a tightly connected network.

It is also expected to stand out in terms of effectiveness by embracing not only economic difficulties but also emotional challenges.

Furthermore, the district has set the ultimate goal of creating a support system where residents can support each other at the neighborhood level through small group meetings with membership members.

Mayor Dongjin Lee of Dobong-gu stated, “North Korean defectors have multicultural characteristics due to living under different cultures and systems, but from the perspective of South-North integration, they are one people, so we must carefully observe and support them,” adding, “We will seek support measures applying various response methods of the visiting community service centers in line with the spread of COVID-19.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.