• Journal of Internet of Things and Convergence
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.73-86
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• 2020

This study examines the North Korean defectors' economic and psychological adjustment status in South Korean society focusing on the specificity of North Korean defectors with the social integration perspective. We conducted a questionnaire survey of 225 North Korean defectors in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do and conducted analysis using the SPSS 22.0 program. The results of the study are as follows. First, the economic adaptation of North Korean defectors was evaluated to be generally low. Second, North Korean refugees' psychological and social adjustment status is generally lower than average, especially cultural adaptation stress, friendship, and satisfaction with physical and mental health. Third, the psychological and cultural adaptation strategy and social support of defectors affected the life satisfaction positively and the adaptation stress had significant negative impact on life satisfaction. Therefore, strategies which reducing adaptive stress and enhancing psychological and cultural adaptation strategies are needed to be implemented in South Korean society. Based on results, policy alternatives were discussed.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.168-179
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• 2016

This study attempted to analyze the relationship between school life satisfaction and acculturation of elementary students of north Korean refugees in Daegu and Gyeongbuk region. The socio-demographic characteristics of elementary students in Daegu and Gyeongbuk were different from in capital territory or other parts of Korea. The acculturation of students living in Daegu and Gyeongbuk was distinctive. The proportion of assimilation was slightly higher than that of integration. However, 42 percent of students belonging to separation and marginalization passively accepted south Korean culture, so that they would have a difficult time in adjusting to new culture. Students getting older and being used to school life strongly inclined to accept south Korean culture; while, students born in north Korea tended to resist acceptance of south Korean culture. Most students were satisfied with school life. The satisfaction level was high in the relationship with teachers and school environment; while, the satisfaction level in learning activity was relatively low. In the relationship between school satisfaction and types of acculturation, students actively accepting new culture were relatively highly satisfied with their school life. A standardized short-term education oriented program for north Korean adolescents refugees living in south Korea should be shifted into the long-term support policy reflected in class and attribute in terms of acculturation.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.63-70
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• 2020

This study examines whether citizen's satisfaction with police response to their victimization has an effect on the trust in the police. The data (N = 214) were collected from the North Koreans refugees residing in South Korea. One key finding shows that the North Koreans who were dissatisfied with policemen's response to their crime victimization cases report lower trust in the South Korean police. Also, the people who had ever reported a crime to the police increase their trust in the police. However, sex, education experience, car ownership, household victimization preventive measures, crime trends decrease their trust in the police. The implications and limitations were discussed for the future research.

• Korean Journal of Family Social Work
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• no.56
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• pp.5-38
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• 2017

This research is conducted through a qualitative methodology, and it aimed for understanding of the generalized structure of getting-together experiences from South Korean who had conversations with North Korean refugees for a long term. As a result, the study, which includes the experiences along with consideration of both contexts and timeline, shows that 'One Korean but divided into South and North', 'Synthesize of water and oil', 'Different from us', 'Understand relativism and deal with it', 'Limitation as an one race: Living different ways on a peninsula' and 'Parallel horizons: Heading to vanishing point' are the key concepts. By understanding these keys, it was able to figure out how their consciousness and acts have been developed in a long term perspective, and thus, we suggest alternative solutions that can be practiced by social workers.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.46-59
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• 2019

Purpose: To determine associations of traumatic events and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with sexual autonomy and identify factors influencing sexual autonomy among female university students of North Korean defectors. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was performed with a total of 103 female students who completed a structured online self-report survey from January 7 to March 31, 2018. This study was conducted using questionnaires on interpersonal trauma scale, the Traumatic Scale for North Korean Refugees (TSNKR), and sexual autonomy measurement for college students. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression with SPSS WIN 23.0 program. Results: Traumatic events, PTSD, and sexual autonomy scores were $3.96{\pm}3.07$, $31.47{\pm}10.75$, and $52.66{\pm}6.89$, respectively. PTSD was positively correlated with traumatic events (r=.22, p=.030). Sexual autonomy was inversely correlated with PTSD (r=-.25, p=.010). Contraceptive use, PTSD, and voluntary sexual debut explained 26% of sexual autonomy of participants. Conclusion: To improve sexual autonomy of young women from North Korea, reproductive intervention programs including contraception, sexual assertiveness training, and psychoeducation to reduce PTSD need to be developed and implemented.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.80-91
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• 2022

Purpose: This study developed an instrument to evaluate the health empowerment of North Korean women refugees and examined its validity and reliability. Methods: Through literature review and focused group interviews, 66 preliminary items with three constructs, including perceived control, perceived competence, and goal internalization were selected based on Menon's psychological health empowerment model. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 239 North Korean women refugees in the community from August 31 to September 4, 2020. Content, construct, convergent, and discriminative validity were evaluated. Cronbach's α was used to evaluate the reliability of scale. Results: The final instrument consisted of 31 items with three factors that were identified through confirmatory factor analysis. The convergent validity showed that the correlation coefficient was .52 (p < .001), which confirmed the validity of the developed measurement tool. Cronbach's α for all the items was .94, and Cronbach's α for the factors was .76~.91. Conclusion: This health empowerment scale has been developed to include aspects of health empowerment, provide a conceptual framework, and offer objective indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of a health education program.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.11
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• pp.552-558
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• 2021

The food shortage in North Korea is a serious situation that has spanned the mid-1990s to today. North Korean refugee children, even those born in North Korea, China, or South Korea, had poor nutritional status at birth; thus, their growth and nutritional status should be continuously monitored. This review focused on the health status of North Korean children and the nutritional status of North Korean refugee children upon settling in South Korea. Immediately after entering South Korea, North Korean refugee children were shorter and lighter than South Korean children and had a serious nutritional status. Over time, their nutrition status improved, but they remained shorter and lighter than South Korean children. A new obesity problem was also observed. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously monitor their growth and nutritional status.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2017

Purpose: This descriptive study was conducted to identify the attitudes of nursing college students to North Korean refugees (NKR) and to examine factors influencing these attitudes. Methods: A total of 195 participants completed a structured questionnaire between September and October 2016. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 21.0 program. Results: The results of this study were as follows: attitudes toward NKR was 2.74 out of 4 points; cultural receptivity was 3.25 out of 5 points; nationalism was 2.46 out of 4 points. Cultural receptivity (r=.26, p<.001) and nationalism (r=-.18, p=.036) were significantly related to attitudes toward NKR. Unification attitude (${\beta}=0.27$, p <.001) and cultural receptivity (${\beta}=0.20$, p=.005) explained 13.7% of the variance in attitudes toward NKR. Conclusion: The findings of this study provide fundamental data for the development of a nursing education program on multicultural perspectives. Furthermore, these findings might highlight the need for a nursing education program that could enhance understanding of patients from different backgrounds and recognize their differences, going beyond a national point of view as commonly found in Korea. The nursing education program should also promote an open and receptive attitude.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.310-321
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• 2012

This study was conducted to establish collaborative governance for North Korean Refugees' settlement support service. Three major actors were identified. At the central government level, there is no control center to coordinate various functions. This study suggested three roles for central government in collborative governance, which are policy planning based on public value, allocating financial resources to implementing organizations, and program evaluation for securing public accountability. The rloes of local government are establishing communication channels between implementing participants, maintenancing good relations, and coordination. Finally, the role of private actors is developing high quality service programs, connecting local resources for settlement service.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.361-369
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the adaptation factor to North Korean refugees by identifying the relationship between character strengths affecting adaptation process and psychological well-being(PWB) in South Korea. The study examined the relationship between PWB and character strength of 117 participants and identified the sub-factors of character strength that affect the settlement period in South Korea. The data were analyzed by using the Model 1 of Process Macro and SPSS 22. The results of this study showed a correlation between PWB and sub-factors of character strength such as wisdom, humanity, courage, justice, temperance, and spirituality. The main effect was to investigate the relationship between PWB and sub-factors of character strength by independent variables. The level of PWB increased with the level of sub-factors of character strength. The moderate effect was showed in the courage of the settling period in relation to PWB. Finally, Limitations and implications of this study was discussed.