Seoul has proposed changing a law on North Korean defectors to require the unification ministry to investigate refugees suspected of having committed “severe crimes,” after the forced repatriation of two DPRK fishermen in 2019 became a major controversy this year.

The proposed amendment to the North Korean Refugees Protection and Settlement Support Act aims to “strengthen the protection and settlement support of North Korean defectors,” the unification ministry wrote in a notice Wednesday.

The ministry would also be involved in evaluating whether North Korean escapees’ intention to defect is genuine under the proposed changes.

The North Korean Refugees Protection and