For more than two decades, a sprawling campus in a quiet satellite of Seoul has provided thousands of North Korean refugees with their first exposure to life in the South. In 12 short weeks, new arrivals learn how to use a bank, how to find a job and how to vote. They receive health checkups and training in vocational skills like baking and nail painting.

On Monday, three and a half years into the pandemic, the once-bustling facility was a ghost town.

Hanawon, officially known as the Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees, opened its doors to foreign media