South Korea will extend job protection and other assistance programs for North Korean escapees who are trying to carve out a new life for themselves in the country, the government said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Unification said revisions to related laws passed by parliament can better protect and help North Korean escapees living in the South.

Most of the 25,000 former North Korean citizens are struggling to deal with a new environment and lack of qualifications that can allow them to get good employment.

“Under the revised law, job protection for escapees will be extended to three years from the current two,” said ministry spokeswoman Park Soo-jin.

She pointed out that it is now the government’s responsibility to assist escapees to successfully settle in the South.

The official added that Seoul is obliged to update support measures every three years to keep abreast of social developments.

The country can also hire dedicated experts to look after the training and education of escapees.

She said changes to the national health insurance law could permit the flow of more support for those that fled the communist country.

In addition, the government must conduct checks on escapees to see how they are coping with life in the South. Such a move can counter criticism that the government has neglected the welfare of these people.

“North Korean defectors can play a key role over the course of preparations for reunification of the Korean Peninsula,” Prime Minister Chung Hong-won said during his visit to Hanawon, the center for resettlement education for the defectors located in Gyeonggi Province.

Chung urged government agencies and officials to pay greater attention to the escapees and lend support to them, particularly the young, saying it is a government duty to take care of those who have risked their lives to come to South Korea.

Meanwhile, spokeswoman Park said it is still in the process of urging a private group dedicated to implementing agreements reached at the 2007 inter-Korean summit not to meet their North Korean counterparts in Beijing.

“We are in the process of explaining the government’s position on this matter and requesting cooperation,” she said.

Despite the meeting being banned on Tuesday, the South Korean Committee for the Joint Implementation of the June 15 Summit Declaration said it will send five delegates to China. The meeting set for Thursday and Friday has been banned because Seoul views the agenda items to be discussed as being “political” in nature.

The group claimed it wanted to hold meetings to mark the July 4th North-South Joint Statement reached in 1972. The statement outlines mutual desires for the early peaceful reunification of Korea.

Under South Korean law, all contacts must be approved in advance and failure to do so carries a fine of up to 1 million won ($880). The committee had defied Seoul last year by holding talks with North Korea that led to fines being levied. (Yonhap News)