Human rights activists representing North Korean defectors lambasted South Korean media for identifying a woman under investigation for the killing of her younger brother as a defector, warning it reinforces negative stereotypes about escapees.

“I’m offended that they treat us like we’ll always be outsiders,” Lee Eun-taek, a North Korean defector and secretary general of the Central Association of North Korean Defectors, told NK News on Tuesday. 

Lee alleged that some news organizations often identify suspects as defectors in their reporting to sensationalize the incident.

“There are many murder cases in South Korea that have nothing to do with North