From now on, the Remembrance Day for North Korean defectors will be celebrated every July 14 in South Korea. This was passed in the North Korean Defectors Protection and Settlement Support Act, which is fundamental to the legal status and support measures for North Korean defectors.

This day is now officially recognized as “North Korean Defectors Day,” a national day of remembrance. The appointment of “North Korean Defectors Day” as a national day of remembrance was received very positively by the community of North Korean defectors. Reports indicate that North Korean residents admire it and North Korean workers abroad respond positively.

This day stands for commitment to human rights and the quest for peaceful reunification. Despite recent measures taken by the regime of Kim Jong-un, rejecting the idea of a single ethnic community and proclaiming a two-state Korea, the North Korean people's perception of South and North as an ethnic group cannot change overnight.

The establishment of North Korean Defectors' Day affirms that North Korean residents and defectors are part of the same nation and are entitled to the same freedoms, human rights, peace and prosperity.

The message that this day sends out recognizes the commitment and contributions to dividing the North Korean regime and the people, as well as the efforts to remember the human rights violations and improve the situation of the population.

Many North Korean defectors flee to China by crossing the Amnok or Tuman rivers. Aid organizations estimate that around 100,000 defectors live in China. Despite international concerns, China continues to forcibly return defectors to North Korea, as can be read in diplo.news.

Just recently, the alarming news emerged that China has repatriated 60 defectors after 200 defectors were repatriated in April.

The international community and the South Korean government should use the ‘North Korean Defectors’ Day’ to raise awareness of the human rights problems faced by defectors abroad and to call on the international community to take action against forced repatriations.

‍
Refugees and defectors abroad will see this day as South Korea's commitment to their protection. It will strengthen efforts to urge China to adhere to the principles of non-refoulement under the Refugee and Torture Conventions and to improve the human rights situation for defectors in China.

According to the constitution, defectors abroad are South Korean citizens and deserve protection. In contrast to North Korea, which has declared the South and North to be two separate states and considers reunification to be obsolete, it should be emphasised that South and North Korea have a special relationship with each other. They are striving for peaceful reunification and want to spread this message to the international community.

‍
In the future, North Koreans may increasingly trust South Korean policy towards defectors. This is likely to increase the desire among them to flee the repressive and inhumane regime in the North and seek refuge in South Korea. This increases the potential for a unified Korean peninsula through democratic means.

‍
The South Korean Ministry of Unification announced that the first ‘North Korean Defectors’ Day’ will be celebrated with a memorial ceremony on 14 July. The aim is to commemorate the defectors who lost their lives while attempting to escape and to send a message of hope for freedom and prosperity to the people of North Korea.

This event on 14 July is intended to honour the historical significance of the defectors. It is also an opportunity for the 34,121 defectors who made it to South Korea to reflect on the crucial role they played in the reunification of the Korean peninsula. South Korea regards North Korean defectors as ‘the first wave of reunification’, so to speak.‍

Young-Hyun Lee is the first lawyer in South Korea to be authorised to represent North Korean defectors