ROK government funding for a center that helps North Korean defectors resettle in the South has held steady despite a significant decrease in new arrivals, according to a ruling party lawmaker, raising concerns about inefficient operations.

At the same time, lawmaker Kim Sang-wook of the Democratic Party criticized a lack of sufficient support for children of North Korean defectors born in third countries, while stressing the need to protect defectors overseas.

In a report released on Monday, Kim cited unification data showing that the annual number of defectors arriving in South Korea has declined from around 1,500 throughout the 2010s