▲ This undated file photo shows a ceremony celebrating the July 14 North Korean Defectors' Day. (Yonhap)

NK defectors-naming

Unification ministry to call N. Korean defectors 'N. Korean-born citizens'

SEOUL, March 5 (Yonhap) -- The unification ministry will use a new term, "North Korean-born citizens," to refer to North Korean defectors to better reflect their status as South Korean nationals with full legal entitlements, officials said Thursday.

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young has avoided calling former North Koreans who fled their home country to settle in South Korea or elsewhere "defectors" or "refugees," instead referring to them as "bukhyangmin," or people whose hometown is North Korea.

Since the beginning of this year, the unification ministry has also used the new term in official documents and public releases and encouraged the media to follow suit.

On Thursday, the ministry presented "North Korean-born citizens" as the English expression for the new term.

The widely used term "North Korean defectors" has often been associated with social discrimination, as it highlights their North Korean backgrounds, although South Korea recognizes them as citizens with full rights once they settle in the country.

The term North Korean-born citizens, clearly limits its use to people born in North Korea while highlighting that they are South Korean citizens equally protected under the constitutional and legal system, the ministry said.

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