S. Korea steps up spending for North Korean defectors: document

SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean ministry overseeing North Korean
affairs plans to increase its spending this year by 27 percent, expanding
programs designed to support defectors from the communist neighbor, according to
a document obtained Tuesday.

The Unification Ministry increased its budget to 154.2 billion won (US$134.4
million) this year from 121.5 billion won last year, according to the plan for
fiscal 2010 ratified last month.
More than half of the increment has been doled out for 14 new projects at the
ministry, including the project to develop an index that assesses volatility in
North Korea, the document showed.
That amounts to 17.8 billion won with about 9.2 billion won of it to be outlaid
on the establishment of a second resettlement center and a nationwide network of
support centers for defectors from the impoverished North.
More than 16,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean
War that ended in a truce, with the annual number of defectors increasing year by
year.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)

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