Concert on Friday for N.K. defectors

A state-funded aid group plans to throw a concert this Friday in a bid to arouse public awareness on defectors from North Korea that are in need of support to settle in the capitalist South.

The association of supporters for North Korean defectors receives state subsidies to offer financial and personal aid for the refugees` social adjustment and employment.

This year, the association was provided with a budget of about 4.2 billion won ($3.6 million), up from 2.2 billion won last year.

It plans to spend about 90 million won on the concert on Friday, 7 p.m. at the Jamsil Student Stadium in southern Seoul, where pop musicians and other celebrities will be invited.



"We hope to help raise the public`s awareness of the defectors` issues and increase the number of sponsors to support their settlement as South Korean citizens," said the association`s chairman Kim Il-joo.

About 16,000 North Koreans have fled to the South so far since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The number of new defectors has been on the rise annually, from 1,138 in 2002 to 2,809 last year. About 75 percent of those who recently entered the South are women, according to Kim.

Also this week, the Unification Ministry is set to expand medical service for defectors from the North by signing a deal today with a group of 34 hospitals across the country.

"The hospitals will offer 50 percent discounts for magnetic resonance imaging, computerized tomography scans and hospitalization treatment to defectors," said Seo Kyung-bae, ministry official in charge of the defectors` settlement support.

Only 22 hospitals in the greater Seoul area have provided such benefits until now.

(sophie@heraldm.com)



By Kim So-hyun