Returned N.Korea defector struggled to resettle in South, lived meager life

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A former North Korean defector who made a risky and rare cross-border return home last week had struggled in South Korea, officials and media reports said on Tuesday, sparking fresh debate over how such defectors are treated in their new lives.

In a photo taken on December 3, 2018 a South Korean soldier stands before a security fence at a guard post inside the Demilitarized Zone near the Military Demarcation Line separating North and South Korea, in South Korea's Cheorwon county. Yelim Lee/ AFPhad struggled in South Korea, officials and media reports said on Tuesday, sparking fresh debate over how such defectors are treated in their new lives.

"I would say he was classified as lower-class, barely scraping a living," the official said, declining to elaborate citing privacy concerns. Police declined to comment. An official at Seoul's Unification Ministry handling cross-border affairs said on Tuesday the re-defector had received government support for personal safety, housing, medical treatment and employment.

As of September, around 33,800 North Koreans had resettled in South Korea, daring a long, risky journey—usually via China—in pursuit of a new life while fleeing poverty and oppression at home.

 

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