Dec. 24 (Asia Today) -- People Power Party lawmaker Park Chung-kwon, a former North Korean defector, criticized the Unification Ministry's plan to change the designation for North Korean defectors to "Northbound residents," calling it "an idea you'd expect from a dictatorship."
Park made the remarks Wednesday on Ato TV's "Shin Yul's Political Check," saying he felt uneasy about what he described as a political intent to curry favor with the North Korean regime.
Park said some defectors feel discomfort with the current term, but argued the cause was misidentified. Changing the label to "Northbound residents" would not improve matters, he said.
He said the discomfort stems from social prejudice and alienation tied to their identity as people from North Korea, not from the wording itself.
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