SEOUL - SOUTH Korea's cabinet has approved a law allowing North Korean refugees to change their newly assigned social security numbers to avoid discrimination, officials said Wednesday.

The unification ministry said in a statement the cabinet Tuesday approved a law change to let refugees change their numbers once if they desire.

Former refugees are sometimes denied visas to visit China or shunned by South Korean employers because their status is discernible from the numbers.

The last three digits indicate birthplaces in the case of South Korean-born residents.

All refugees, however, receive a three-digit code indicating the location of the government's resettlement training centre.

The new legislation will take effect late this month or early next month.

A growing number of North Koreans are fleeing hunger and poverty in their homeland, with the vast majority travelling overland to neighbouring China.

They risk forced repatriation if caught there and often travel on to Southeast Asia in hope of eventual resettlement in South Korea or the West.

As of last month, 15,057 North Koreans had arrived in South Korea since the end of the war in 1953, the vast majority in recent years. Some complain of discrimination by South Korean bosses. -- AFP