The purpose of the Settlement Support Program for North Korean defectors is to protect and support the defectors to settle down successfully in the South Korean society. The immigration ratio of the defectors is growing every year up to reach 17,000 persons in September 2009. Especially there's an increase in the number of female defectors and defectors at productive age.
Although the government has tried various supporting programs by differentiating scales and methods, there are still some cases about maladjusted defectors. With ongoing and ever growing tendency of immigration ratio, their successful settlement will facilitate the social integration of North and South Korea inhabitants. Therefore it is crucial to review this program and to suggest some policy recommendations.
First of all, absence of master plan makes it difficult for the central government to manage programs systematically. Due to absence of individual database on settlement support, coordinated and effective assistance from related ministries (the Ministry of National Unification, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Health and Welfare) is not achieved. Henceforth, it is necessary for a government to make a master plan and construct a database with the help of related ministries. It is also needed to consider legal foundation by inserting relevant clauses. This report also suggests that performance management is required to reinforce statistics such as employment rate of North Korean defectors and to strengthen the curriculum in order to train them.
Although the government has tried various supporting programs by differentiating scales and methods, there are still some cases about maladjusted defectors. With ongoing and ever growing tendency of immigration ratio, their successful settlement will facilitate the social integration of North and South Korea inhabitants. Therefore it is crucial to review this program and to suggest some policy recommendations.
First of all, absence of master plan makes it difficult for the central government to manage programs systematically. Due to absence of individual database on settlement support, coordinated and effective assistance from related ministries (the Ministry of National Unification, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Health and Welfare) is not achieved. Henceforth, it is necessary for a government to make a master plan and construct a database with the help of related ministries. It is also needed to consider legal foundation by inserting relevant clauses. This report also suggests that performance management is required to reinforce statistics such as employment rate of North Korean defectors and to strengthen the curriculum in order to train them.