S. Korea opens fourth support center for N.K. defectors

POCHEON, South Korea, June 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Monday opened the
country's fourth support center for North Koreans who have defected to the South,
providing them with additional adjustment training.
All North Korean defectors who enter South Korea must go through a 12-week
resettlement training program at Hanawon, a state-run center south of Seoul. But
a survey showed the newcomers still struggle to integrate at work and in schools.
With the number of defectors growing, the Unification Ministry opened three
adjustment support centers, called Hana Centers, across the country, including
near Seoul and in Daegu, a southeastern city some 300 km from the capital.
The Hana Centers will provide an additional three-week program after Hanawon to
help defectors find work and medical services. They will also give counseling and
tutoring for the defectors' children.
"The number of North Korean defectors who entered the South has surpassed 16,000,
and we expect 3,000 more this year," Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said at
the opening ceremony of the new center.
"We plan to provide support for defectors to comfortably readjust (in the
South)," he said.
The government plans to have 16 support centers nationwide by 2011.
Surveys show many of the defectors are sidelined from mainstream society. A
recent study by the Unification Ministry showed that they earn less than a third
of the average monthly income of their South Korean counterparts.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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