A Symposium on an era of twenty thousand North Korean immigrants organized by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRC) and the Center for North Korean Defectors, as well as sponsored by the Ministry of Unification, the Germany Embassy, Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea and the U.S. embassy was held on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at the University of North Korean Studies.

After welcoming remarks by the chairmen of NHRC and the Center for North Korean defectors as well as Assemblymen of the Grand National Party and the Democratic Party, the first session focused on study cases of Germany and the USA. Dr. Bernhard Seliger, representative of HSS Korea, explained the system of resettlement aid for East German migrants before German reunification. Susan Krehbiel, Vice President of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service hold a video speech about the U.S. Refugee Resettlement System.

The main session focused more on the Korean case. Topics like the direction of the Korean government’s policy on support for North Korean migrants, the resettlement support system for North Korean migrants from a nongovernmental perspective and the creation of new governance for the social adaptation of North Korean migrants were thoroughly discussed.