Korea said Friday it has appointed a female North Korean defector as a professor at a state-run institute in charge of educating citizens on unification with North Korea.

Chung Eun-chan is the second defector to become a public official at the Institute for Unification Education, which is affiliated with the Unification Ministry.

Chung defected to the South in early 2000 and received her doctoral degree in economics from a South Korean university.

In June of last year, Cho Myung-chul, a high-profile North Korean defector, was named head of the institute. Cho taught economics at an elite North Korean university before his defection to the South in 1994.

In April, Cho was elected as South Korea's first defector lawmaker. (Yonhap)