• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.470-483
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• 2018

This study was conducted to analyze the trend of quantitative research regarding female North Korean refugees in order to broaden our understanding of North Korean women and provide directions for future research. In August 2017, the Korean studies Information Service System (KISS) and Nuri Media (DBpia) databases were used to search academic peer reviewed journal articles with the following keywords: "North Korean female", "North Korean female refugees" and "North Korean female defectors". Trend analysis included a content analysis of the study finding section, along with analysis of the general characteristics of the study such as published journals, year of publication, study methodologies, and subject of the study. The main findings are as follows: First, Korean Journal of Woman Psychology was the journal with the most studies on female North Korean refugees. Second, as a result of looking at research trends by year, there was only one study on North Korean female refugees published between 2000 and 2004, and the number started to increase in 2010(8 articles, 22.22%). Third, according to the analysis of research trends by research methods, survey method was most frequently used. Fourth, statistical analysis was most often utilized analysis methodology(34 studies, 94.44%). Fifth, in the content analysis, North Korean female refugees' mental health and emotional issues(17 studies, 47.22%) were the most often the focus of studies being analyzed, followed by social adjustment issues((5 studies, 13.89%). Based on these results, directions for future studies were suggested.