By Kim Young-jin

Social workers assisting defectors from North Korea at state-funded "readjustment" centers outside the capital city of Seoul are in dire need of government support, the head of a regional center said Thursday.

The call came as the government broke ground on its second Hanawon, a multimillion dollar resettlement center in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province to assist defectors when they arrive.

Though the need for the new resettlement center is seen as necessary to handle the influx of those fleeing the North, many of the government-funded Hana Centers nationwide, which help defectors settle in once they leave Hanawon, are struggling to stay afloat, Lee Yeong-seok, the head of the Daegu branch, said.

The problems of the Hana Centers, most located outside Seoul, highlights the exacerbated problems North Korean defectors face as they settle outside Seoul ― who, in many cases, eventually pack up and head for the capital.

"In Seoul, there are many services and facilities for defectors," Lee told The Korea Times. "We wish we could provide more assistance to those in need but we lack the funding and manpower to fully offer services that people need."

Each of the 30 Hana Centers ― which also include locations in Busan, Daejeon and Gwangju ― are operated by a local NGO selected by the Ministry of Unification.

Established by the government in 2009, the centers aim to expand upon the three-month program at Hanawon required of all newly-arrived defectors by providing job and social counseling as well as help adjusting to life outside the Stalinist North.

But Lee said the government funding only allows for at most four workers to staff the centers, constantly bogged down by overly-detailed statistical reporting requirements and miles of red tape if they need assistance from the government.

Lee said that many defectors outside Seoul, where far more services exist, would like more chances for group sessions where they could share problems and receive advice from social workers.

Defectors seeking divorce often have problems as they must travel to Seoul and navigate complicated procedures, an issue the center cannot address under the current conditions.

Another major problem, he said, is that the centers are only mandated to assist defectors who arrived within a year's time, though it is estimated that it takes them between 3 and 5 years to settle down and the system leaves others who encounter problems in the lurch.

But the most glaring problem seems to be the lack of support services away from Seoul, one that seems all the worse as the government "strongly encourages" defectors to settle elsewhere, activists say.

One recent defector, Kim Min-woo (an alias) attending Yeungnam University in North Gyeongsang Provice said there are few programs to help young defectors apply for university or find a job, a prospect he dreaded.

"A lot of my friends can't find jobs and some even commute to Seoul," a trip of over 200 kilometers, he said, adding that he greatly benefitted from study groups provided by the Daegu center.

Joanna Hosaniak of the Seoul-based human rights group Citizens' Alliance for North Korean human rights, said the government would be wise to review its resettlement process to better meet defectors' needs.

"The majority of the people don't use the knowledge they get in Hanawon, because while they're in there they don't know what to expect from the outside. Once they get out on their own, the problems start."

"Now they are building new Hanawons, which is important, but this should not come at the expense of the local centers, where the assistance is really needed."

For Lee, the process should boil down to a single principle: helping the defectors feel at home through the methods they prefer. Additional funding, he said, would go a long to meeting that goal in simple ways.

"For example, a lot of them love to hike," he said. "But they are scared to go alone. We want to have outings so that they can build a community. We should be able to do that."

Korea Times intern Choi Hee-jae contributed to this report.