North Korean defectors officially started work on Monday as 7th grade civil servants for the Ministry of Unification.

“We will keep supporting these five defectors so that they can take root in South Korean public offices, and also cooperate with other organizations to promote having more defectors working for the South Korean government,” an MoU official said on Monday.

The MoU has hired defectors before, but those were contractual workers – considered “9th grade” civil servants, the most junior position in the South Korean administration system.

To become 7th grade civil servants, the defector candidates had to have a minimum