Kwon Young-se "I will overhaul the North Korean defector crisis management system overall"

Explanation of Next Year's Budget Proposal by the National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee
Response Measures Announced Regarding the Baekgolsi-sin Defector Incident

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se addresses the budget proposal at the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee plenary meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 31st. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] Kwon Young-se, Minister of Unification, recently stated that he intends to "completely overhaul" the crisis management system for North Korean defectors in relation to the case where a female North Korean defector was found deceased in a skeletal state.

Minister Kwon said at the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee plenary meeting on the 31st, "Even if this incident had occurred during my tenure, I believe it would not have been discovered under the current system," expressing his intention to make changes.

In response to a question from Kim Sang-hee, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, asking, "Did the Ministry of Unification know about the missing or uncontactable defectors but did nothing?" Minister Kwon replied, "We will approach this by almost completely reorganizing the system beyond mere supplementation."

Earlier, on the 19th, the skeletal remains of a female North Korean defector in her 40s were found in a rental apartment in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. Since then, concerns have been raised about the crisis management system, including protection for defectors. Moreover, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the relevant local governments, and the Ministry of Unification had received information about the defector's crisis signs at least five times since May of last year, but all three institutions failed to take significant action, citing loss of contact, leading to criticism that the defector was left in a blind spot.

Minister Kwon pointed out that a problem in managing defector crises is the lack of legal grounds for administrative officials to forcibly open doors when residents are uncontactable or show signs of crisis. He also identified the dispersion of defector support and management tasks among Hana One Foundation, Hana Center, and Hanawon as an issue to be improved.

Under the current system, the primary inspection of crisis households among defectors is conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in cooperation with local governments, while the Ministry of Unification only checks the safety of defectors excluded from the management of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and local governments.

Regarding this, Minister Kwon explained, "Since the Ministry of Unification is excluded from the primary inspection, there can be cases of 'passing the buck' without taking responsibility," adding, "We are receiving cooperation and support from the Ministry of Health and Welfare on 33 crisis indicators, but we will make this cooperation even closer going forward."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Unification has allocated approximately 725 million KRW in next year's budget for the establishment and operation of a comprehensive management system for North Korean defectors and plans to transfer the integrated case history system operated by the Hana Foundation to the Ministry of Unification's Safety Support Team. The Ministry explained that the budget was prepared with a focus on more substantial support, including increasing the settlement support fund for defectors by 1 million KRW.

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