Seoul, Feb 1 (IANS): South Korea's Unification Ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs has presented gifts to young North Korean defectors without families on the occasion of the Lunar New Year holiday, officials said on Tuesday.

The government delivered daily necessities and other items to North Korean defectors aged 24 or under without families ahead of the national holiday, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Called 'Seol' in Korean, it is one of the largest annual celebrations in the country during which many South Koreans visit their hometowns to get together with relatives and pay respects to ancestors.

This year's Lunar New Year falls on February 1.

"We usually visited them in-person around the holiday season but could not do so this year due to the Covid-19 situation," a Ministry official said.

he South Korean government has been stepping up efforts to support North Korean defectors suffering from economic and psychological difficulties.

According to a government survey last year, 1,582 among some 33,800 North Koreans living in South Korea were found to be in need of help in addition to the general welfare package provided to all defectors upon their resettlement here.