Report says N. Korean defectors vulnerable to civil suits in South

A majority of North Korean defectors are embroiled in money-related civil suits in South Korea as they are not accustomed to money transactions in the capitalist society, a report showed Thursday.

The Korea Hana Foundation, the government's agency that supports North Korean settlement in the South, provided free legal services to former North Koreans involved in 142 cases in 2014, according to the report released by the state-run Korea Development Institute.

Out of the total, 81 cases were civil suits, followed by 39 family cases and 17 criminal lawsuits.

The report noted that those who have a communist background have no experience in managing money in a capitalist country, so their money transactions, such as lending and investing, often end up causing legal battles.

(Yonhap)

Some of them lent money to their friends without an IOU or lost a lot of money due to careless investments, the report added.

But the North Korean defectors have difficulties in following the judiciary procedures in the South because of financial problems, and cultural and language differences.

The KDI report said it is necessary to help North Koreans get proper legal services and information, and support them so they can afford good lawyers.

According to the latest data, 29,543 North Koreans were living in the South as of June 2016, with the two Koreas remaining technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. (Yonhap)