North Korean defectors in South Korea are relatively optimistic about the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration, members of the defector community told NK News, welcoming what they see as greater attention to human rights abuses in the DPRK and more space for nonprofits to operate in the South.

Critics of the Moon Jae-in administration claim that human rights abuses in North Korea have taken a backseat to broader efforts for inter-Korean reconciliation. South Korea has refused to endorse an annual U.N. statement condemning human rights abuses in the DPRK, for example, and Moon’s party rammed through a controversial law that makes it harder to send information, aid and other supplies into the North.