By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter


South Korea will intensify screening of North Korean defectors at its diplomatic missions abroad to thwart criminals’ entry and false defections, the Ministry of Unification said Thursday.

``From next year, we will fortify the screening procedure to weed out murderers, criminals sought by international police and people disguising themselves as asylum seekers,’’ Vice Unification Minister Rhee Bong-jo said at a news conference. ``Even after their entry, those with criminal records will be punished according to domestic law.’’

Seoul’s strengthened measures will require diplomatic missions to carry out thorough background checks on all asylum seekers.

``It will not be easy to secure evidence because they will have to depend on the statements (of each defector),’’ Rhee said. ``But I think these measures could have a deterrent effect.’’

The ministry said 10.7 percent of the 1,866 North Korean defectors who entered South Korea this year had criminal records.

During the first six months of this year, 40 fraudulent defections have been detected _ 24 ethnic Koreans from China who disguised themselves as North Korean defectors to come to South Korea and 16 North Koreans who posed as Korean-Chinese.

Rhee said the government will not give North Koreans tickets to the South if they had resettled in a third country more than 10 years ago.

The set of measures announced by the ministry came as South Korea faces a surge in North Korean defectors, increasing tensions with Pyongyang. Inter-Korean relations have been further strained by North Koreans already residing in the South who assist their compatriots to defect.

The vice minister also announced the Seoul government will slash financial subsidies for North Korean defectors by two-thirds to 10 million won ($9,100), while using the remaining 18 million won ($16,400) as incentives to encourage job training.

The incentive system is designed to give financial aid to defectors after they have entered vocational education courses, obtained certificates and secured employment, with the maximum amount of money per individual reaching up to 15 million won ($13,600).

The money for accommodation will remain unchanged at 7.5 million won ($6,800).

``We’ve changed our focus in policy from protection to education for self-reliance,’’ Rhee said. ``We’ve concluded that providing money has not been successful in helping them resettle here.’’

The government will also strengthen the monitoring of ``brokers’’ who have been involved in arranging the defections of North Koreans as 83 percent of the 1,866 asylum seekers had been required to give brokers an average of 4 million won ($3,800) as commission, Rhee said.

Brokers sometimes employ violence to extort money, ministry officials said.

Seoul has considered a variety of possible measures for preventing defectors-turned-brokers from visiting foreign countries as many defectors who fail to adjust to capitalist society have tried to profit from their experiences.

Those working as brokers travel to China and guide North Koreans to foreign missions in Beijing or to a third country as a stopover before going on to Seoul in return for payment.

In late July Seoul airlifted 468 North Korean asylum seekers from Vietnam, the single largest defection since the 1950-53 Korean War, freezing the governmental-level talks between the two Koreas.

More than 6,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea to escape poverty and political oppression since the war. Seoul expects the number of North Korean defectors in South Korea to exceed 10,000 annually in the near future.

im@koreatimes.co.kr