A large majority of North Korean defectors residing in South Korea are estimated to be living in poverty.

An opposition lawmaker said Wednesday that about eight out of ten North Korean defectors here live below the poverty line and are dependent on government subsidies.

Rep. Park Chan-sook of the Grand National Party said that of about one thousand-800 defectors residing in Seoul, one thousand 400 or 77 percent depend on state handouts to keep their heads above water.

Park called for a systematic review of government policy toward the North Korean defectors to help them better adjust to their new lives in the capitalist South.

Currently, the South Korean government offers 36 million won or 31 thousand U.S. dollars in aid to each defector over a 20-month period.

More than five thousand North Koreans have been granted asylum in South Korea since the Korean War ended in 1953.

Nearly one thousand-400 have defected to Seoul so far this year.