migrants

Dec. 30 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Tuesday it will begin using the term “North Korean migrants” starting Jan. 1 in government and local authorities as a replacement for “North Korean defectors,” saying it will seek broader social consensus before pursuing a legal change.

Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-joong said at a briefing at the Government Complex Seoul that the current term has long been debated because of what officials view as negative connotations and stigmatizing effects.

“The term ‘North Korean defectors’ has been subject to ongoing discussions for change due to its negative connotations and stigmatizing effects,” Kim said. He called on North Koreans who have resettled in the South to participate in using the new term so they can feel “even a little warmth” from society.

Kim said use of the new term would not be mandatory and the ministry would first apply it within government and local authorities before expanding it more broadly. He said the ministry plans to keep listening to views from North Koreans living in South Korea and to explain the government’s intent.

The ministry said it would push to adopt the term as a legal designation if it gains wider traction, after earlier efforts to shift terminology failed.

However, the ministry acknowledged resistance among North Koreans who have resettled in the South. In a survey conducted from Sept. 26 to Oct. 5 of 1,000 South Korean adults and 1,000 North Korean defectors, 53.4% of defectors opposed changing the term, while 63.5% of the general public supported a change, the ministry said.

Among defectors, the most preferred alternative was “freedom citizens” at 30.5%, followed by “northern migrants” at 29.8%, “unification citizens” at 18.8% and “northern immigrants” at 12.7%, the ministry said. Among the general public, “North Korean migrants” was the top choice at 31.8%, followed by “Northbound citizens” at 27.7% and “free citizens” at 22.2%.

A senior ministry official said the new term reflects what the ministry described as a “dual identity,” referring to North Korea as a homeland while recognizing citizenship in South Korea. The official said the ministry also gathered expert opinions in reaching its decision.

The ministry also announced additional measures related to resettlement support. It said educational smartphones will be provided individually to North Korean defectors during training at Hanawon and that it plans to allow autonomous internet use after work hours to expand access to information and enable family calls.

It also said visitation policies for Hanawon trainees will be expanded to include friends and acquaintances, with broader weekend visitation.

The ministry said Hanawon operations will be consolidated as the number of entrants declines, with the Hwacheon branch to be integrated into the main Anseong campus.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement summoned Afghans residing in the U.S. to present their documents during the holiday season, marking the latest effort by the Trump administration to crack down on migrants from the Asian nation.

ICE is seeking appointments for a “scheduled report check-in,” with one requesting such a meeting on Christmas Day and another asking for one on New Year’s Day, according to copies of letters sent to different people seen by Bloomberg News. Other notices were for check-ins around the holidays on Dec. 27 and Dec. 30.

The immigration agency has arrested migrants who appear at its offices in response to such formal requests, including those attending interviews for their green cards. Recipients of the letters had previously gained legal protection and were deemed “Afghan allies” as part of a program started by former President Joe Biden in August 2021 to protect those who fled to the U.S. after the American military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s subsequent takeover of the war-torn country.

“ICE is using federal and religious holidays to detain Afghans when access to legal counsel, courts, and advocates is at its lowest,” Shawn VanDiver, founder of the nonprofit group AfghanEvac that supports Afghans who assisted the U.S. war effort, said in a statement criticizing the call-ins and their timing. “This is not routine administrative scheduling.”

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, however, called the check-ins “routine” and “long-standing” without elaborating on how many letters were sent out. The spokesperson added that ICE continues its standard operations during the holidays.

Christmas and New Year’s Day are federal holidays when most government offices are closed.

The call-ins follow substantial changes to the U.S. immigration policy under President Donald Trump targeting Afghans in the wake of the November shooting of two National Guard troops by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who worked with U.S. forces and the CIA in Afghanistan before arriving in the US in 2021. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that Lakanwal, who has been charged with murder, came to the U.S. through the Biden program known as Operation Allies Welcome.

Since the November shooting, the Trump administration has announced it will re-review the cases of all refugees resettled under the Biden administration and freeze their green card applications, and will consider among “significant negative factors” a country’s inclusion on the president’s vast travel ban.

In another blow to Afghans, the administration’s refugee cap for fiscal year 2026 was vastly lowered to 7,500 from 125,000. The presidential determination indicated it will favor White South Afrikaners and did not mention Afghans.

The administration also removed an exemption for Afghan nationals with Special Immigration Visas — which offers those who provided services to the US government or military in Afghanistan — when it expanded its entry ban list to nationals of more than 30 countries from 19 previously. Afghan nationals were already on the entry ban list prior to the expansion.

The State Department earlier this year shuttered the office that helped resettle Afghan refugees who assisted the American war effort. An effort on Capitol Hill to compel the administration to restart the operations failed to make it into the defense policy bill that Trump signed this month.

With assistance from Alicia A. Caldwell. Lowenkron writes for Bloomberg.

Dec. 23 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Tuesday it will move quickly to decide and implement a change to the official term used for North Korean defectors, replacing it with “North Korean migrants.”

A Unification Ministry official told reporters the ministry plans to reach a conclusion and proceed “as soon as possible” on the terminology change.

The ministry previously said in a work briefing for President Lee Jae-myung on Friday that it would pursue revising the designation. During that briefing, Lee, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok and Unification Minister Chung Dong-young used the term “North Korean migrants” instead of “North Korean defectors,” according to the report.

Chung said at the meeting that defectors broadly reject the current term “defector,” but the report said a significant number are also voicing opposition to “North Korean migrants.”

The Unification Ministry publicly raised the idea of changing the designation in September and conducted opinion polling, but the results have not been released, the report said.

– Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.