SEOUL, Rep. Tae Young-ho, a North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party, said Tuesday he has proposed a bill calling for the designation of a commemorative day for North Korean defectors.

Tae said in a Facebook post that he has submitted the proposed revision to the Act On The Protection And Settlement Support Of Residents Escaping From North Korea that was first enacted in 1997.

“There is a need to establish a commemorative day to enhance national awareness of North Korean defectors,” Tae said, adding that the successful integration of North Korean defectors into South Korean society is crucial for achieving liberal democratic unification on the Korean Peninsula.

Tae mentioned that within the North Korean defector community, there is a discussion about designating either Jan. 13, the day the law was initially enacted, or Aug. 26, the day the Soviet Union first officially intervened on the Korean Peninsula by blocking it above the 38th parallel.

During a Cabinet meeting on Jan.
16, President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed the unification ministry to designate a day for North Korean defectors, saying they are South Korean citizens according to the country’s Constitution.

South Korea has a longstanding policy of accepting any North Korean defectors who want to live in the South and repatriating any North Koreans who stray into the South if they want to return. According to the data from Seoul’s unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs, the total number of the North’s defectors in the country is over 34,000.

Source: Yonhap News Agency