2020 Implementation Plan for Settlement
Support for North Korean Defectors
February 18, 2020
The Ministry of Unification established the 2020 Implementation Plan
for Settlement Support for North Korean Defectors (proposal) in order
to execute the Second Master Plan for Settlement Support for North
Korean Defectors (2018-2020). It will finalize the 2020 Implementation
Plan through consultations with appropriate agencies and by
correspondence with the Consultative Council on Residents Escaping
from North Korea (February 7-13), and execute the plan in earnest.
The 2020 Implementation Plan was set up as a result of consultations
with 20 government departments and three local governments. It sets
forth a total of 53 tasks under seven categories: jobs, education
support, services necessary for daily living, cooperation on policy on
North Korean defectors, the Hana Center, protection of vulnerable
North Korean defectors, and social assimilation.
The major tasks for each category are as follows.
① The government will continue to help individual North Korean
defectors develop new capabilities and match jobs for them to ensure
their stable settlement as “productive citizens.”
② The government will actively support young North Korean defectors
so that they can adapt to school and improve their learning
ability.
③ The government will continue to build out and
improve systems for greater convenience in daily life and make legal
education and counseling more widely available to facilitate North
Korean defectors’ assimilation into society.
④ The government will step up cooperation on handling of matters for
defectors between the central and local governments, the private
sector, and the North Korean defectors’ community.
⑤ The government will establish a community-based settlement support
system by giving local governments and the private sector greater
roles in protecting and supporting North Korean defectors.
⑥ The government will expand counseling and livelihood support for
vulnerable North Korean defectors.
⑦ The government will actively encourage communication and
harmonious relations between North Korean defectors and local residents.
The government expects that improvement and further development of
systems, customization of policy, and increased communication will
leave North Korean defectors much better off in 2020.
The government will faithfully implement the tasks presented in the
2020 Implementation Plan and ensure that settlement support policies
for North Korean defectors that help improve their daily living are
executed properly.
While hearing the opinions of North Korean defectors and
working-level officials and carrying out effective policy in
cooperation with appropriate departments and agencies, the government
will continue to strive to make the lives of North Korean defectors better.