 South Korea is shutting its
door to over 1,000 North Korean defectors in Mongolia and Southeast
Asia.
Mongolia had been an important
transit point for North Koreans seeking to reach South Korea. Most of
these refugees crossed into China and made their way to Mongolia.
However, officials believe
South Korea is trying to slow the trend of accepting defectors for fear
of offending the unpredictable North Korean government. Also, there
is concern about a flood of refugees which might swamp South Korea.
Currently there are 11,000
North Koreans who have made their way to South Korea with an additional
2,000 arriving yearly.
"South Korean authorities
do everything possible to minimize the arrival of refugees," Andrei
Lankov, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Kookmin University, told The
Seattle Times.
While South Korea claims it
will accept all North Koreans, it has increasingly become difficult
for untrained North Korean workers to be accepted into South Korea.
Also, South Korea recently
reduced the initial stipend for refugees to $6,400, with an additional
$13,860 or so for housing. However, payments are not being provided
unless a North Korean immigrant is employed for at least a year.
There have also been many problems
assimilating North Koreans into South Korean society. Adjusting to market
capitalism has proven very difficult, as has been the need to re-educate
the North Koreans to work in a technologically sophisticated economy.
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