{"id":16005,"date":"2026-11-13T12:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T12:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=16005"},"modified":"2026-11-13T12:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T12:36:14","slug":"clash-over-nk-defector-label-fuels-debate-over-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=16005","title":{"rendered":"Clash over NK defector label fuels debate over identity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Members of a North Korean defector association rally outside Government Complex Seoul in Jongno District, Thursday, to protest the unification ministry\u2019s use of \u201cbukhyangmin,\u201d a term for people whose hometowns are in North Korea. Yonhap <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A bill to change South Korea\u2019s legal term for North Korean defectors set off a shouting match at the National Assembly Thursday after an opposition lawmaker challenged Unification Minister Chung Dong-young over the proposed name.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinister Buk Dong-young, why is it OK to call me \u2018bukhyangmin?\u2019\u201d asked Rep. Park Choong-kwon of the main opposition People Power Party, who fled North Korea in 2009. He had replaced Chung\u2019s surname with \u201cbuk,\u201d the Korean word for north.<\/p>\n

Rep. Lee Ki-heon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea shot back by asking whether he could call Park \u201cTal Choong-kwon.\u201d He took \u201ctal,\u201d meaning escape, from \u201ctalbukmin,\u201d the term commonly used for North Korean defectors in the South. Chung demanded an apology. Park apologized before the meeting resumed.<\/p>\n

The exchange came as the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee took up a bill introduced by Rep. Kim Jae-won of the Rebuilding Korea Party. It would replace the legal term for North Korean defectors with bukhyangmin, a term for people whose hometowns are in North Korea. The unification ministry has used the term since early this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cNorth Korean defectors rejected the dictatorship and risked their lives in search of freedom,\u201d Park said. He accused Chung of trying to erase \u201cthat history and identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a YouTube interview, Park said the survey on the name change gave respondents few alternatives and steered them toward bukhyangmin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no consensus among defectors on the term,\u201d he said. \u201cChanging the term won\u2019t change how people see North Korean defectors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chung backed an earlier effort to change the name during his first stint as unification minister. In 2005, the ministry introduced \u201csaeteomin,\u201d a term for people starting life in a new place. The government dropped it from official use in 2008. The legal term, \u201cbukhan ital jumin,\u201d meaning residents who defected from North Korea, remained in place, while talbukmin stayed in everyday use.<\/p>\n

In March, the unification ministry adopted \u201cNorth Korean-born citizens\u201d for its English materials, saying the term reflected both where defectors were born and their status as South Korean citizens.<\/p>\n

The foreign ministry was cautious about adopting the wording. In October, it told lawmakers that changing the legal term could make it harder for Seoul to persuade third countries to refrain from forcibly returning defectors to North Korea.<\/p>\n

About 50 North Korean defectors rallied outside Government Complex Seoul Thursday to oppose the change. They chanted \u201cWe are North Korean defectors\u201d and called for Chung to resign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fled North Korea because we were fed up with the Kim Jong-un regime. Leaving the North is part of our identity,\u201d said Lee Eun-taek, secretary-general of the defector association that organized the rally. \u201cWe reject the label bukhyangmin because it denies our identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cho Kyung-il, head of Peace Agora, said he supports bukhyangmin because it acknowledges the ties defectors still have to their hometowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you call us ‘talbukja’ (someone who fled North Korea) or ‘italja’ (a broader term for someone who has left or broken away), it makes us sound like we abandoned our hometown. It cuts us off from who we are,\u201d Cho said on his YouTube channel. <\/p>\n

After the rally, the unification ministry said it was using the new term to promote respect for defectors and help them integrate into South Korean society. A ministry official said the government was listening to different views and hoped to keep talking with the group that organized the rally.<\/p>\n

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Members of a North Korean defector association rally outside Government Complex Seoul in Jongno District, Thursday, to protest the unification ministry\u2019s use of \u201cbukhyangmin,\u201d a term for people whose hometowns are in North Korea. Yonhap A bill to change South Korea\u2019s legal term for North Korean defectors set off a shouting match at the National…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16006,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t