• Human Ecology Research
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.317-330
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• 2018

Objectives: This study explores the characteristics of family migration for North Korean defectors and classifies family migration by examining who initiated the migration and who followed. Method: We analyzed the family migration using detailed stories from fifty-five North Korean defectors who were interviewed between 2005 and 2011. Results: We found that 43 out of 55 cases were family migration and the remaining 12 cases were single person migration. We also found several characteristics typical of migration. First, family migration followed the process of step migration, which indicated a serial migration in numbers. Second, migration relied heavily on informal social networks. Finally, the process of earlier migration by North Koreans was incidental and unexpected; however, unexpectedness has diminished in recent migration. Looking at who initiated the migration, the most common type was 'mother-initiated' cases (14 cases) followed by 'child-initiated' cases (10 cases). The third most common type was 'mother-child accompanied' cases (7 cases). The migration process was various; however the most common type was when a married woman initiated the family migration process. This is most likely because married women have the responsibility to support families in the informal economy of North Korea. According to the range of family migrated, the most common type was 'nuclear-family only' cases (22 cases) followed by 'maternal extended family migration' cases (12 cases). Conclusions: The findings of this study provide information on the family dynamics of North Korean defectors.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.101-113
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• 2018

This study aims to elucidate the major issues and problems of the North Korean woman defectors focusing on the Community settlement system of Korean society in the time of the historical change of the rapidly changing inter - Korean relations starting from the recent summit talks between North and South Korea. Analytical methods were conducted using literature and previous research data. The results of this study are summarized as follows. The necessity of legal and institutional support reflecting the characteristics of life of North Korean woman defectors and experience of defecting, the necessity of development and management of employment education and employment support program for stable settlement support, the necessity of an integrated support system of public - private cooperation governance structure The need for a tailored social adaptation program tailored to individual needs arises. The results of this study are important to suggest the direction of improvement of the actual system through studying the policy and system of the settlement of Korean society in advance of the unification era. In future research, the support system for the settlement of the South Korean society A variety of studies to identify the factors for role formation will be needed.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.60
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• pp.104-124
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to explore how North Korean woman defectors' memories of their past lives are represented in Korean television talk show, (Channel A, 2011~) and its social implications. In order to carry out this task, this study first discusses the emergence of the concept of 'memory' in its relations with 'collective memory', 'cultural memory' and 'history', and its social appropriation in media such as television. And, the ideological aspects of the recent trend of television talk show that deals with people's private memories were also discussed. The study used the method of structural narrative analysis. The findings are the following. First of all, North Korean woman defectors' memories in collide with the dominant public memories in South Korea. In any case, it has been found that the show tended to make North Korea and their defectors as exotic 'others' and thereby reinforce the existing public memory. After all, this study argues that the representation of the defectors' memories in the talk show only results in stressing the melodramatic narrative emotionally packaged with 'laughing' and 'crying' without any sincere consideration of them.

• 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.