The South Korean government plans to strengthen its welfare distribution system for underprivileged people following the recent deaths of a North Korean defector and her child presumably from starvation. 

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said on Tuesday that it will create a task force jointly with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and other government organizations to improve administrative welfare services regarding nationwide welfare safety net. 

The so-called “Happiness-Pursuing Task Force” will be given a three-year mandate to raise the efficiency of welfare policies so that no vulnerable groups are excluded from state benefits designed for them. 

In late July, a North Korean defector in her 40s and her six-year-old son were found dead in their public rental apartment in Gwanak District in Seoul. Police have yet to determine the precise cause of death, but they believe the two starved to death two months earlier.