[News Today] YOON VOWS TO PROTECT NK DEFECTORS

[LEAD]
At the very first North Korean Defectors' Day ceremony, President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged to enhance systems for the stable resettlement of defectors. He emphasized protecting North Koreans as South Korean citizens under the Constitution. He vowed not to send back any North Korean seeking refuge in South Korea.

[REPORT]
A ceremony was held to mark the first North Korean Defectors' Day.

During the event, President Yoon Suk Yeol said that through the North Korean defectors he realized how freedom can change a person's fate.

At the same time, he condemned the North Korean regime for committing inhumane acts of quelling its citizens' outcries for the life they deserve to live as human beings.

Yoon Suk Yeol / President
In order to block North Koreans' defection, the regime is building walls, installing
electric barbed-wire fences and planting landmines along borders.

Yoon said that ending human rights violations in North Korea is the foundation for achieving national unification and establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula and that embracing North Korean defectors is the first step towards that goal.

In line with such efforts the president said that for the first time in some 20 years, the government will significantly raise financial assistance for North Korean defectors settling in South Korea shortly after their arrival.
He also promised to expand the employment of the defectors.

While saying that the North Korean regime cannot block North Korean people's pursuit of freedom, Yoon stressed that the South Korean government will protect North Korean defectors who are regarded as the people of South Korea under the Constitution.

Yoon Suk Yeol / President
We will ensure by all means that none of the North Korean people coming
to South Korea will be forcibly repatriated.

The president also said the government will spare no diplomatic efforts to ensure that North Korean defectors in foreign countries are not repatriated to the regime against their will.

In Seoul, cultural events were also held to mark the inaugural North Korean Defectors' Day.