hankyoreh

Nearly half of North Korean defectors here have remitted money to their families in the impoverished communist nation under U.N. sanctions, a poll showed Sunday.
According to the survey of 396 North Korean defectors residing in South Korea, aged 15 or older, 49.5 percent said they have sent money to their families in the North, while 46 percent said they have not and 4.5 percent said that they have no family there. The survey was conducted from Dec. 14-31 last year by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, a Seoul-based private group.
With regard to the amount of money remitted last year alone, 31.7 percent of survey respondents said they sent 510,000 Won ($450) to 1 million Won, followed by between 1.01 million to 2 million Won (16.7 percent); and more than 5 million Won, less than 500,000 Won and between 2.01 million Won and 3 million won (12.5 percent each).
The amount 1 million South Korean won is reportedly worth six months of living costs in the North. The average monthly income of North Korean defectors with jobs here was 1.04 million won and 38 percent of them were part-timers, the survey showed.
(Yonhap News Agency)
　　
DP returns to National Assembly, skips summit 　　
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) lawmakers decided Sunday to return to the National Assembly to end the political deadlock, while rejecting the summit between President Lee Myung-bak and DP Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu.
In an urgent press conference, DP Chairman Sohn said DP lawmakers will go back to the National Assembly to deal with urgent bills relevant to people’s livelihood regardless of a previously demanded apology from the president for the railroaded 2011 budget.
Sohn rejected the Cheong Wa Dae’s invitation for the summit, calling the offer “insincere,” and attacked President Lee for “turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the people‘s hardships.”
The Cheong Wa Dae yesterday criticized DP for skipping the summit.

All bus stops and parks in Seoul smoke-free zones
The Seoul Metropolitan government said Monday that 5,715 bus stops, 1,024 neighborhood parks and areas within a 50-meter radius from all elementary, middle and high schools in the capital will be additionally designated as no-smoking zones starting next January, stepping up efforts to heighten public awareness of the health hazards from secondhand smoking.
Under the toughened policy, offenders will be fined 100,000 Won ($89) based on ordinances soon to be established by all autonomous districts in Seoul.
Last year, the city government designated three public plazas - Cheonggye, Seoul Square and Gwanghwamun Plaza - in the city center as no-smoking zones where offenders will be fined beginning on June 1.
　
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