Hanawon, first help center for refugees from N. Korea, marks 10th anniversary

ANSEONG, South Korea, July 8 (Yonhap) -- Hundreds of government officials,
politicians and defectors from North Korea gathered here Wednesday to celebrate
the 10th founding anniversary of Hanawon, a resettlement center for defectors
that has helped some 16,000 of them build a new life in the South.
The 67,138-square-meter center, surrounded by hills and monitored by security
guards in this Seoul suburb, provides a compulsory 12-week education program to
help defectors better adjust to life in the capitalist South.
More than 16,000 North Koreans have fled to the more affluent South since the end
of the 1950-53 Korean War to escape hunger and oppression. The number of new
defectors has been on the rise annually, from 1,138 in 2002 to 2,809 last year.
Over half of all defectors are women.
The government expects some 3,000 more arrivals this year.
"Many of us have thought that resolving the nuclear weapons issue is the key to
dealing with all inter-Korean problems, but that is only one part in the relation
of the two Koreas," Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said in a speech at the
anniversary ceremony.
"Success stories of defectors will serve as cornerstones for the unification of
the two Koreas. The government will step up efforts to resolve problems regarding
refugees from North Korea," the minister said.
The ceremony was also attended by National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyong-o and the
head of parliament's foreign relations committee, Rep. Park Jin. Over 100 local
and foreign journalists were invited to the event at the tightly guarded
facility.
Assembly Speaker Kim noted that many defectors face economic and psychological
difficulties in adjusting to their new lives and urged the government to upgrade
welfare programs to address such issues.
"The education, welfare and social safety nets for defectors are still inadequate
for them to make soft a landing in our society," the speaker said in a speech.
Last December, the ministry completed a second remodeling of the facility,
doubling its housing capacity to 600. With the number of defectors growing, the
government opened four adjustment support centers, called Hana Centers, across
the country, including near Seoul and in Daegu, a southeastern city some 300km
from the capital.
The government plans to have 16 support centers nationwide by 2011.
Surveys show many of the defectors continue to be marginalized and earn less than
a third of the average monthly income of their South Korean counterparts.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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