SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) -- Half of North Korean defectors' households in South Korea earn less than 1 million won (US$893) per month, a poll said Wednesday, underscoring the economic difficulties they continue to face in the capitalist society here.

   The National Police Agency, which conducted a survey of 12,205 households between August and October last year, said 50.5 percent of them fell into that income range. About 23 percent of them earn less than 500,000 won a month, it added.

   The figures contrast with South Korea's per capita income, which stands at around US$20,000. The survey also coincides with another that said earlier this month that the average monthly income of North Korean defectors with jobs here was 1.04 million won and that 38 percent of them were part-timers.

   More than 20,000 North Koreans have defected to the South since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The defections have taken place mostly since the 1990s, and the border between the two Koreas remains heavily fortified.

   Nearly 40 percent of the defectors surveyed by the National Police Agency said they were living under tough economic conditions. Fourteen percent complained of cultural differences and 13 percent of difficulties in getting jobs.

   Defectors undergo several months of resettlement training once they arrive here from the impoverished communist state, mostly via China. South Korea also tries to cover their initial expenses of resettlement and provides them with citizenship.

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