• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.431-441
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• 2013

Purpose: The study was done to explore meanings and essence of the experience in South Korea of men defectors from North Korea. Methods: Data were collected from March, 2011 to May, 2012, through in-depth interviews with ten men defectors. Data analysis was conducted using the process of hermeneutic phenomenological reflection. Results: Eight essential themes were extracted; 'buoyant expectation for a new life', 'feeling guilty about family left behind in North Korea', 'inability to become acclimatized due to communication difficulties', 'inability to socialize with South Koreans due to different lifestyles', 'finding strength through trustworthy acquaintances', 'continuing reconciliation with oneself while trying to assimilate into South Korean culture', 'self-realization of one's original self', and 'continuing to feel out the possibility of a future in South Korea'. Conclusion: The findings indicate that North Korean men who defect to South Korea shape their identity through three phases: forming self-image during escape from North Korea, trying to become accustomed to South Korean society, and finding their own identity by self-realization of their original self. Eventually, the whole process enables them to recover their identity, to feel a sense of belonging, and to discover possibilities for a better future.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2016

Although the state of medicine in North Korea is of great interest, there is little information, if any, about the present state of medicine in North Korea. Even North Korea's laws and regulations on medicine are not publicly available. It is plausible that the dictator's commands or the policy of the Communist Party may be superior to the nation's constitution and laws on medical education and much more. Information is only available from a limited number of publications and mainly from the statements of refugees, which differ greatly among themselves. No one refugee could provide authoritative data or information because they were never in the position to see the larger picture or have experience over the long term. However, what is known is that the major health professions in North Korea include physicians (medical doctors), stomatologists (oral doctors), 'Koryo' doctors (doctors of Korean traditional medicine), midwives, and nurses. The names and the founding year of each of the regular medical schools are listed along with the change and restoration of names of schools. It is known that there have been quasi-physicians and semi-physicians. However, the reasons for any changes that have taken place also remain unknown. The educational system, curriculum, and even the number of years of training needed to qualify to become a physician have varied from time to time.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.107-117
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to examine the causal relationship of related variables in order to promote entrepreneurship, which is one way to support the economic independence and stable settlement of North Korean defectors. This study is firstly to examine the influence of individualism and collectivism on entrepreneurial intentions, and secondly, to examine the mediating effect of social adaptability in the relationship between socialist value system and entrepreneurial intention. To this end, a survey was conducted on North Korean defectors, and the empirical analysis target was 223 North Korean defectors. For the verification of the causal relationship between personal disposition and entrepreneurial intention, and the causal relationship between value system and entrepreneurial intention PLS was used. And PROCESS for SPSS Macro was used to verify the mediating effect of social adaptation in the relationship between the value system and entrepreneurial intention. Looking at the results of the empirical analysis, the extraversion factor was found to have a positive effect on the entrepreneurial intention level of North Korean defectors, and the self-fulfillment desire factor was found to have a positive effect on the entrepreneurial intention. It was also found that individualist values have a positive effect on the entrepreneurial intentions of North Korean defectors, and collectivist values do not have a significant effect on the entrepreneurial intentions. As a result of examining the mediating effect of social adaptability between individualism/collectivism and entrepreneurial intention in this study, it was found that individualist value has a direct impact on entrepreneurial intention without engaging social adaptability.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2015

Objective : To translate Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) into North Korean language and to examine its reliability and validity Methods : North Korean defectors (n=207) recruited from the call center for North Korean defectors participated. Psychiatrists and psychiatric residents interviewed the participants and made the psychiatric diagnoses. Subsequently, the participants completed the CES-D, Impact of Event-Scale-Revised-North Korea (IES-R-NK), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-North Korea (AUDIT-NK), and Brief Psychological State Inventory for North Korean Refugees (BPSI-NKR) questionnaires. Of the original participants, 143 subjects participated in test-retest reliability study after one week. Results : Cronbach's alpha coefficient of CES-D-NK was superior in both males (0.91) and females (0.93). The test-retest correlation coefficient was high (males, 0.64 ; femals, 0.79). Good convergent validity was evident by significant correlations with IER-R-NK, BPSI-NKR-Depression and BPSI-NKR-PTSD, respectively. CES-D-NK had no or weak correlations with AUDIT-NK and BPSI-NKR-Alcohol, showing its discriminant validity. Conclusion : CES-D-NK could be a reliable and valid tool for screening and assessing depressive symptoms of North Korean defectors.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.66 no.6
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• pp.122-134
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• 2016

With the advent of the new political regime of Jong Un Kim, North Korea is undergoing many changes, with its main motivation being economic growth. This study aims to identify the changes in clothing in North Korea under the new political climate. The research conducted a review on literature and empirical study. For literature review, books and papers from studies related to North Korea have been reviewed. For the empirical part, interviews with diverse class of North Korean refugees including Hanawon, videos on TV, 1,100 pictures and related articles from newspapers and Internet have been collected. Through this analysis, the study found that subtle changes in North Korean fashion started prior to the Jong Un Kim's regime, but has become full-blown since Kim's assumption of power. This proves that the country is not yet independent from its political situation. The results are as follows: First, the appearance of Ri Sol-ju has liberalized the fashion concept of North Korean women, and the popularity of her trademark style has actually contributed to a more amicable image for Kim. Second, the "Hallyu" style has spread to North Korea through various channels, and has started new trends. Third, the diversification of fashion styles has been greatly accelerated in accordance with the expansion of market, resulting from the economic revitalization policy. Last of all, Jong Un Kim's direct orders concerning fashion have resulted in some significant changes. The sophisticated uniforms of flight attendants and the development of luxury cosmetics being prime examples. As studies on this subject are extremely rare, this research is significant to identify the changes on the clothing culture under Jong Un Kim's regime, and to present an expanded view, as the two countries work towards an united Korea.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.329-338
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• 2017

This study aims to examine heterogeneous acculturation patterns of elite North Korean female defectors in South Korea. The study employed a synthetic comparative analysis. A series of in-depth interviews with 5 North Korean female defectors in South Korea were conducted. In addition, the research team implemented 20 open-ended surveys with other defectors. Through this study, we have found various types of cultural adaptation in the group of the elite North Korean women in South Korea. The study findings imply that it is imperative to establish national policies that support different types of North Korean defectors. Putting all North Koreans into one category might result in alienation and discrimination to some groups. Thus how the participants reframed their social identify in South Korea illuminates essential facets of human-right education, especially education for refugees and immigrants in different global and multi-cultural contexts.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.381-404
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• 2019

The paper aims to identify how North Korean various economic agents respond to the economic crisis in North Korea, and how these multiple practices are entangled with its spatiality by through the questionnaire survey and in-depth interview targeted at North Korean refugees. The paper argues that it needs to examine the marketization in North Korea in terms of the domesticating recently debated in economic geography. In this perspective, the marketization in North Korea could be explained not as a grand project 'out there' with hegemonic power, but as various economic agents within their space are constantly (re)constructed through everyday life practices. Economic agents' responses to economic crisis, economic rupture, and economic marginalization could be identified in terms of articulation between economic and non-economic factors. More specifically, the paper emphasizes everyday life responses are over-determined by their economic and non-economic factors and its effectiveness is differentiated by their power relations.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.300-312
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• 2023

Purpose: This study investigated knowledge of atopic dermatitis and food allergies, as well as health information literacy, among North Korean refugee mothers with preschool-age children and explored how these variables were related to participants' characteristics. Methods: A descriptive study design was used. Data from 130 North Korean refugee mothers were collected between January and March 2023. Results: The mean scores were 14.48 of 30 for atopic dermatitis knowledge; 2.77 of 10 for food allergy knowledge, and 56.95 of 80 for health information literacy. Significant differences were observed in knowledge of atopic dermatitis based on breastfeeding duration (F=4.12, p=.009), and in knowledge of food allergies based on mixed feeding (F=3.11, p=.049). Health information literacy showed significant relationships with education level (F=3.76, p=.026), occupation (F=3.99, p=.021), checking nutritional information (t=2.91, p=.004), mixed feeding (F=4.50, p=.014), and atopic dermatitis diagnosis (t=6.86, p=.001). Significant positive correlations were observed between atopic dermatitis knowledge, food allergy knowledge, and health information literacy. Conclusion: Personalized educational programs should be implemented to improve awareness of allergies and health information literacy among North Korean refugee mothers, which would help them find, evaluate, and understand health-related information. These programs should focus on providing nutrition and dietary education to promote healthy growth in children and prevent diseases.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.322-336
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the current state and trends of health literacy research considering migrants living in South Korea. Methods: A review of the literature was conducted using electronic data base and citation tracking. A total of 82 articles were identified, of which 16 articles that met the inclusion criteria were selected for review. Two authors reviewed the articles independently using a matrix table and then examined four aspects of the studies jointly: research method, immigrant characteristics, health literacy assessment, and main findings. Results: Most of the articles (n=13) were descriptive studies and three were methodology studies for instrument development. Of the 13 studies, eight involved female immigrants, four of health literacy involved migrant workers, and four concerned North Korean Refugees. A total of eight types of health literacy assessment tools were used. Sufficient samples and sampling methods were lacking at the population level. Conclusion: The results of the review generally showed that the health literacy of immigrants was lower than that of native South Koreans, and that there was a difference between nationality and gender among immigrants; however, further research is needed to review a larger sample with a validated instrument.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.35-58
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to identify the moderating effect of social support between daily life stress and suicidal ideation of North Korean refugee women in South Korea. We survey with self-report questionnaires for 156 refugee women, conduct descriptive and regression analysis. As results, (1) almost half of the surveyed experience suicidal ideation in a year, (2) daily life stress affects suicidal ideation controlling with depression, PTSD, alcohol use, income, and age, (3) social support which North Korea refugee women perceive buffers the relationship between life stress and suicidal ideation. From these results, implications are suggested. Gender cognitive policies are needed in North Korea refugees in South Korea. Also, community mental health services and sustainable community program for North Korea refugee women are important to prevent their suicidal attempts.