Cash pledged by Seoul for resettlement of more North Korean defectors

Seoul plans to spend 9.3 billion won ($7.9 million) next year on building new readjustment and education facilities for defectors from North Korea.

According to the Unification Ministry’s 2010 budget proposal, the government aims to use more than half of that sum to build the country’s second resettlement education center for incoming North Korean refugees. The present resettlement education center, Hanawon, located in Anseong, south of Seoul, is capable of accommodating 750.

The government also plans to establish a nationwide network of regional support “Hana Centers,” designed to help improve the welfare of the North Koreans resettling in the South. The government plans to establish more centers in southern regions next year and up to 16 support centers nationwide by 2011.

[JoongAng Daily]