NORTH KOREA

NORTH KOREA: Defectors get US scholarships

Three young North Korean defectors living in South Korea have won scholarships offered by the US federal government for study and internships at American universities, reports Yonhap News Agency.

For the first time this year, the US embassy picked six undergraduate students in South Korea under the Global Undergraduate Exchange Programme. Funded by the US State Department, the programme offers one-year scholarships to outstanding but underprivileged students throughout the world. "This is the first year that the US Embassy Seoul has participated in this programme, and six students were selected," Ambassador Kathleen Stephens said in an article she posted on her embassy's blog. "Three of them are originally from North Korea."

In May this year, a North Korean defector received the British government's Chevening Scholarship for the first time. The British embassy in Seoul also expanded an English training programme for North Korean defectors here.
Full report on the Yonhap site