• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.636-652
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• 2018

This study is about applying the concept of moral injury in reinterpreting and understanding the experience of female North Korean refugees who have experienced psychological trauma and are struggling with adjusting in their everyday lives. The database KISS and DBpia were used to search for academic peer-reviewed articles published before August 13th in 2017, using 'female or women North Korean,' 'female or women relocated North Korean,' and 'female or women North Korean defector' as keywords. In total 51 studies were finally selected for content analysis and the result were the following. First, listing from the most often occurring study topic to the least occurring topic in order: post-defection adjustment related, mothering experience, experience of North Korean regime and Korean War, work or job or employment related, recovering from psychological trauma as well as growth and resilience related, experiences in China, trauma and psychological difficulties, anxiety treatment process and effects. Second, words related to psychological aspect of moral injury appeared 260 times in 51 selected studies, changes in the existential belief appeared 82 times, cognitive aspects of moral injury appeared 71 times, and behavioral aspects 21 times. Third, two main contexts emerged to be the antecedent that led to moral injury and they were 'identity denial' and 'dismantled family.' In attempts to find opposite cases or stories where aspects of moral injury were not found despite the existence of its antecedents and it was 'identity restructuring.' Based on the finding, practice implications that could help female North Korean refugees prevent or recover from moral injury were suggested.

• Journal of International Area Studies (JIAS)
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.109-134
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• 2011

Drug-related crime has increased in spite of visible results of Uribe government's hard-line policies on drug eradication and illegally armed organizations which were pursued under U.S. support, without the accompaniment of quantity change in drug cultivation and trade. Military disputes of left-right illegally armed communities surrounding illegal crop cultivation rights were rather intensified, and the number of refugees was increased through enforced displaced people. The 2005 refugee registration committee RUPD reports that 3,316,862 people, 7.3% of total population, were refugees. In particular, the number of refugees presented a large increase rate of 624% when compared to the past year due to enforced displaced people. Main discharge areas of enforced displaced people are connected with drug crime and activities of illegally armed organizations, and are places of increased armed disputes in the process of occupied territory expansion of illegally armed communities and militia. Undiscriminated attacks were executed on farmers in the process of occupation of illegal crop cultivation sites by illegally armed organization and militia to emit enforced displaced people, who moved to border areas by crossing national borders. Enforced displaced people were restricted to certain areas before the appearance of Uribe administration. However, enforced displaced people not only presented quantitative expansion, but also showed tendency of nationwide expansion after national security policy was pursued. With the closing of the Amazon area, previously the main route of drug trade, activity base of illegally armed organizations was moved to the Pacific region, and Panama border area experienced refugee increase due to the new policy of enforced displaced people. This study aims to understand the actual condition and cause for the increase in refugees in Colombia based on border areas of Venezuela, which is the nation of highest dispersion of Columbian refugees, Panama, which has appeared as a new destination for refugees after the 90s, and Ecuador, which has experienced sudden refugee increase in 2000.

• Health and Mission
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• s.8
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• pp.20-21
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• 2007

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.234-236
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• 2018

• Korean Architects
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• s.636
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• pp.110-115
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• 2022

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.81-100
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• 2017

This study measures the degree of dollarization in North Korea using results from a survey of 231 North Korean refugees. Specifically, we compare foreign currency use of households as both store-of-value substitutes (i.e., asset substitution) and transaction substitutes (i.e., currency substitution) before and after the confiscatory currency reform of 2009. The degree of dollarization has advanced since the currency reform in terms of both asset and currency substitutions. Survey results also indicate that the Chinese yuan is frequently used in the Sino-North Korean border area, whereas the US dollar is predominantly used in non-border areas. Furthermore, foreign currency increasingly serves as a medium of exchange not only for large transactions but also for smaller transactions, such as food purchases.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.169-198
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• 2019

This study focused on the increase in refugee-related discourse in Korean society with the recent inflow of asylum seekers to Jeju Island. The purpose of our study was to understand the trends in public opinion concerning the acceptance of refugees by analyzing the content of refugee-related video commentary on YouTube. Topic modeling was conducted to analyze the main points, context, and ideas in the comments. The results indicated that the media mainly focus on the pros and cons of refugees, restricting the refugee issue to the problem of acceptance with a narrow focus on the case of Jeju Island. Refugee acceptance was treated as overwhelmingly unacceptable in the comments. We found that commenters often used negative discourse in the comments as a device for reproducing and amplifying hate speech.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.19-27
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to assess mental health and quality of life (QOL) including factors influencing QOL among early North Korean defectors in South Korea. Participants were 151 early North Korean defectors residing in a settlement support center. All measures were self-administered. Unlike refugees living in communities, early defectors did not experience a high rate of mental health problems and reported a good QOL. Psychoticism was the most predictive factor affecting QOL. Findings from this study suggest the importance of mental health assessment and support over time. Psychoticism, significant in explaining QOL of early North Korean defectors, needs early diagnosis and treatment to prevent progression. Mental health issues among refugees may not be evident while they are in a structured, supportive environment. Evaluation and treatment are needed over time.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.51-90
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• 2020

The city of Sumqayit in Azerbaijan was famous in the USSR for its chemical plants, which supplied the whole country with plastics, detergents, and fertilizers. While production increased in the post-WWII period, young people from remote Caucasian villages were attracted as workers to the industrial settlement on the shore of the Caspian Sea and worked together with specialists from all over the USSR. Migration did not stop when the USSR collapsed. To the contrary, mobility increased as Azerbaijani refugees from Armenia and IDPs from Karabakh fled to Sumqayit, which grew to become the second-largest city of Azerbaijan. Although a generation has passed since the ceasefire, IDPs still are separately administered. In the last 20 years, more and more internal migrants have chosen the Greater Baku Region as their destination, mostly finding jobs in the informal labor market. In the post-independence transformative period, informal housing has offered migrants a place to stay in the city. Sumqayit can be regarded as an arrival city, an established urban platform for migrants who prefer internal over transnational migration.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.134-142
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• 2020

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: North Korean refugees (NKRs) in South Korea are a unique population as they must adapt in a new country with similar cultural traits but different social, political, and economic systems, but little research has been conducted on diet and nutrition in this population. This study examined food security, dietary behaviors, and nutrient intakes among adult NKRs living in South Korea and compared them to those of South Koreans. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The subjects were 139 adult NKRs (25 men, 114 women) living in the Seoul metropolitan area, and 417 age- and sex- matched South Korean controls (SKCs; 75 men, 342 women) selected from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Food security and dietary behaviors (meal skipping, eating-out, meals with family, nutrition education and counseling, and nutrition label knowledge and utilization) were obtained using self-administered questionnaires. Nutrient intakes were assessed by 24-hr recall. The statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS ver. 23.0. RESULTS: In South Korea, food security had improved over the previous 12 months, but remained significantly poorer for NKR women than SKC women. Meal skipping was three times more frequent than for SKCs and eating-out was rare. Average energy intake was 1,509 kcal for NKR men and 1,344 kcal for NKR women, which was lower than those of SKCs (2,412 kcal and 1,789 kcal, respectively). Significantly more NKRs (men 24.0%, women 21.9%) showed simultaneously deficient intake in energy, calcium, iron, vitamin A, and riboflavin than SKCs (men 2.7% (P = 0.003), women 7.0% (P < 0.001)). NKR women had a significantly higher index of nutrient quality (INQ) for some nutrients than SK women. CONCLUSIONS: This study reports significant differences in food security, dietary behaviors, and nutrient intakes between NKRs and SKCs. Generally, NKRs reported lower intakes despite improved food security, but relatively good INQs across nutrients. Further research is needed to understand processes of food choice and consumption among NKRs to provide appropriate support aimed at improving diets.