ID :
199932
Tue, 08/09/2011 - 05:52
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/199932
The shortlink copeid
POW escapees from N. Korea to get monthly allowances
SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is working on legislation to offer monthly allowances, instead of lump-sum compensation, to prisoners of war returning from North Korea, government officials said Tuesday.
The Cabinet approved a defense ministry-proposed bill changing the method of paying compensation to POW escapees to help them manage the funds, the officials said.
The bill now awaits consent from the National Assembly for it to become law.
Former South Korean soldiers who returned home after being taken as POWs by the North during the 1950-53 Korean War receive an average of 500 million won (US$456,621) per person in compensation from the government, ministry officials said, noting the amount varies depending on their ranks in the South Korean military and whether they were members of the North's Workers' Party.
But criticism has mounted over the method of paying the compensation because many returnees use the money quickly at an early stage of resettlement in the South and spend the rest of their lives suffering from financial difficulties.
The bill also calls for the government to pay some subsidies to low-income spouses or underage children of POWs who died in the South after returning from the North.
South Korean officials believe about 500 POWs are still held captive in North Korea, but the North has officially denied their existence for decades, claiming it does not hold any soldiers from the South against their will.
Since 1994, 79 POWS have escaped North Korea and found their way back to South Korea. Of them, 62 are still alive.
The Cabinet approved a defense ministry-proposed bill changing the method of paying compensation to POW escapees to help them manage the funds, the officials said.
The bill now awaits consent from the National Assembly for it to become law.
Former South Korean soldiers who returned home after being taken as POWs by the North during the 1950-53 Korean War receive an average of 500 million won (US$456,621) per person in compensation from the government, ministry officials said, noting the amount varies depending on their ranks in the South Korean military and whether they were members of the North's Workers' Party.
But criticism has mounted over the method of paying the compensation because many returnees use the money quickly at an early stage of resettlement in the South and spend the rest of their lives suffering from financial difficulties.
The bill also calls for the government to pay some subsidies to low-income spouses or underage children of POWs who died in the South after returning from the North.
South Korean officials believe about 500 POWs are still held captive in North Korea, but the North has officially denied their existence for decades, claiming it does not hold any soldiers from the South against their will.
Since 1994, 79 POWS have escaped North Korea and found their way back to South Korea. Of them, 62 are still alive.
