ID :
210148
Thu, 09/29/2011 - 07:35
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/210148
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*** INTER-KOREAN RELATIONS
NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 177 (September 29, 2011)
*** INTER-KOREAN RELATIONS
N. Korean Student Defectors Increase 3.5-fold Since 2006: Report
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The number of North Korean student defectors in South Korea soared by more than 3.5 times over the past five years, government data showed on Sept. 23.
A total of 1,681 elementary, middle and high school students fleeing from the communist country reside here in 2011, up 235.9 percent from 475 in 2006, according to the report by the education ministry and submitted to parliament for a regular audit.
Elementary school students accounted for 60.7 percent of the defector students below college level, followed by high school students with 22.2 percent and middle school students with 17.1 percent, the report showed.
The total number of North Koreans defecting to the South surpassed the 20,000 mark in November last year for the first time, almost double from around 10,200 in 2006, according to the Unification Ministry data.
Meanwhile, the dropout rate of North Korean defectors in schools here has gradually decreased over the past few years, from 10.8 percent in 2007 to 6.1 percent in 2008 to 4.7 percent in 2010, according to the report, a sign that efforts to help support young North Korean defectors paid off.
Reasons for their withdrawal from the regular schooling include adjustment failure, responsibilities for housework and taking a school qualification exam instead of completing high school for entering college, the report showed.
"More thorough and systematic preparation for the defector students is a must, concerning that their dropout rate is much higher than that of South Korean students," said Rep. Kim Choon-jin of the main opposition Democratic Party, who requested the data from the ministry.
------------------------
Seoul Considers Repairing Flood-hit Roads Leading to Kaesong Complex
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government is considering repairing flood-damaged roads linking North Korea's border city of Kaesong to the nearby inter-Korean industrial park, officials said on Sept. 25.
The roads used by commuter buses for nearly 50,000 North Korean workers employed by South Korean firms at the Kaesong Industrial Complex were reportedly damaged in this summer's torrential rains.
"We understand the government is considering improving North Korean roads leading to the Kaesong Industrial Complex," a South Korean official working there said.
The official said that an on-site survey of the roads has already been conducted last summer by the Kaesong Industrial Complex Management Committee, the South's organization overseeing administrative affairs and management of facilities in the complex, and LH Corp., South Korea's state-run land developer participating in the development of the complex.
A source at Seoul's Unification Ministry also confirmed the plan.
"The government is mulling ways to repair roads in the Kaesong region because many of them were damaged in heavy rains this year," a ministry official said requesting not to be named. "We need to consult with the North because the work involves repairing of roads inside Kaesong."
The repair, if conducted, will likely involve works to restore damaged paved sections and fill in holes on unpaved roads with soil, the official said.
The complex, a key symbol of rapprochement between the two Koreas, combines the South's technology and management expertise with the North's cheap labor.
More than 47,000 North Koreans work for about 120 South Korean firms operating in the North Korean border city of Kaesong to produce clothes, utensils, watches and other low-tech goods.
The two divided Koreas have managed to maintain the zone despite a chill in their relations over the North's two deadly attacks on the South last year that killed 50 South Koreans.
The repair is anticipated to help save time for the North Korean commuters and reduce traffic accidents with experts saying it may become a foothold to restore frayed inter-Korean ties.
------------------------
S. Korea's Ruling Party Chief to Visit Kaesong Industrial Complex
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea's ruling party chief plans to visit the joint industrial complex in North Korea later this week, an official said on Sept. 27, as tensions still run high between the two rival states following the North's deadly attacks on the South last year.
Rep. Hong Joon-pyo of the Grand National Party will visit the factory park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong on Sept. 30, a ruling camp official said, adding that Pyongyang has also agreed to Hong's trip to the complex.
Hong has called for Seoul to exercise flexibility on its policy toward Pyongyang to improve their frayed ties. Earlier September, Hong proposed a project to help the North's agricultural sector and said he is willing to visit the Kaesong complex.
The factory park is the last-remaining symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement that had boomed following their first-ever summit in 2000. The complex was designed to combine cheap North Korean labor, and South Korean capital and technology.
Currently, more than 47,000 North Koreans work at about 120 South Korean-run factories there.
Relations between the two Koreas turned sour after President Lee Myung-bak took office in early 2008 with a pledge to link aid to the socialist nation to progress in efforts to end Pyongyang's nuclear programs.
The ties exacerbated further last year after North Korea's two deadly attacks on the South.
(END)
*** INTER-KOREAN RELATIONS
N. Korean Student Defectors Increase 3.5-fold Since 2006: Report
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The number of North Korean student defectors in South Korea soared by more than 3.5 times over the past five years, government data showed on Sept. 23.
A total of 1,681 elementary, middle and high school students fleeing from the communist country reside here in 2011, up 235.9 percent from 475 in 2006, according to the report by the education ministry and submitted to parliament for a regular audit.
Elementary school students accounted for 60.7 percent of the defector students below college level, followed by high school students with 22.2 percent and middle school students with 17.1 percent, the report showed.
The total number of North Koreans defecting to the South surpassed the 20,000 mark in November last year for the first time, almost double from around 10,200 in 2006, according to the Unification Ministry data.
Meanwhile, the dropout rate of North Korean defectors in schools here has gradually decreased over the past few years, from 10.8 percent in 2007 to 6.1 percent in 2008 to 4.7 percent in 2010, according to the report, a sign that efforts to help support young North Korean defectors paid off.
Reasons for their withdrawal from the regular schooling include adjustment failure, responsibilities for housework and taking a school qualification exam instead of completing high school for entering college, the report showed.
"More thorough and systematic preparation for the defector students is a must, concerning that their dropout rate is much higher than that of South Korean students," said Rep. Kim Choon-jin of the main opposition Democratic Party, who requested the data from the ministry.
------------------------
Seoul Considers Repairing Flood-hit Roads Leading to Kaesong Complex
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government is considering repairing flood-damaged roads linking North Korea's border city of Kaesong to the nearby inter-Korean industrial park, officials said on Sept. 25.
The roads used by commuter buses for nearly 50,000 North Korean workers employed by South Korean firms at the Kaesong Industrial Complex were reportedly damaged in this summer's torrential rains.
"We understand the government is considering improving North Korean roads leading to the Kaesong Industrial Complex," a South Korean official working there said.
The official said that an on-site survey of the roads has already been conducted last summer by the Kaesong Industrial Complex Management Committee, the South's organization overseeing administrative affairs and management of facilities in the complex, and LH Corp., South Korea's state-run land developer participating in the development of the complex.
A source at Seoul's Unification Ministry also confirmed the plan.
"The government is mulling ways to repair roads in the Kaesong region because many of them were damaged in heavy rains this year," a ministry official said requesting not to be named. "We need to consult with the North because the work involves repairing of roads inside Kaesong."
The repair, if conducted, will likely involve works to restore damaged paved sections and fill in holes on unpaved roads with soil, the official said.
The complex, a key symbol of rapprochement between the two Koreas, combines the South's technology and management expertise with the North's cheap labor.
More than 47,000 North Koreans work for about 120 South Korean firms operating in the North Korean border city of Kaesong to produce clothes, utensils, watches and other low-tech goods.
The two divided Koreas have managed to maintain the zone despite a chill in their relations over the North's two deadly attacks on the South last year that killed 50 South Koreans.
The repair is anticipated to help save time for the North Korean commuters and reduce traffic accidents with experts saying it may become a foothold to restore frayed inter-Korean ties.
------------------------
S. Korea's Ruling Party Chief to Visit Kaesong Industrial Complex
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea's ruling party chief plans to visit the joint industrial complex in North Korea later this week, an official said on Sept. 27, as tensions still run high between the two rival states following the North's deadly attacks on the South last year.
Rep. Hong Joon-pyo of the Grand National Party will visit the factory park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong on Sept. 30, a ruling camp official said, adding that Pyongyang has also agreed to Hong's trip to the complex.
Hong has called for Seoul to exercise flexibility on its policy toward Pyongyang to improve their frayed ties. Earlier September, Hong proposed a project to help the North's agricultural sector and said he is willing to visit the Kaesong complex.
The factory park is the last-remaining symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement that had boomed following their first-ever summit in 2000. The complex was designed to combine cheap North Korean labor, and South Korean capital and technology.
Currently, more than 47,000 North Koreans work at about 120 South Korean-run factories there.
Relations between the two Koreas turned sour after President Lee Myung-bak took office in early 2008 with a pledge to link aid to the socialist nation to progress in efforts to end Pyongyang's nuclear programs.
The ties exacerbated further last year after North Korea's two deadly attacks on the South.
(END)
