Factors Associated with Employment Hope among North Korean Defectors in South Korea
| Published date | 01 October 2021 |
| Author | Yun Kyung Kim,Jin Yong Jun,In Han Song,Philip Young P. Hong |
| Date | 01 October 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12812 |
180
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International Migration. 2021;59:180–196.
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imig
INTRODUCTION
International migration h as been on the rise all over the world – p articularly i nvoluntary or forced migrat ion or
displacement . In recent years, serious academic, politi cal and media attention has been given to the ‘refugee crisis’
caused by wars in Syria, ethnic cleansing and persecut ions in Myanmar, an d economic and political inst ability in
Received: 21 Oct ober 2018
|
Revised: 10 Octobe r 2020
|
Accepted: 30 Novem ber 2020
DOI: 10.1111/imig.12812
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Factors Associated with Employment Hope among
North Korean Defectors in South Korea
Yun Kyung Kim1| Jin Yong Jun2| In Han Song1|
Philip Young P. Hong3
© 2021 The Author s. Internationa l Migration © 2021 IOM
1Yonsei Universit y, Seoul, Republic of Kore a
2National Cent er for Mental Healt h,
Ministry of H ealth and Welfare, S eoul,
Republic of Kore a
3Loyola Univer sity Chicago, Chic ago, USA
FUNDING
This work was sup ported by the Korea
Foundation [2016- RF-021; 2019-RF-020].
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine various factors as-
sociated with employment hope among 702 North Korean
defectors who newly entered the Settlement Support
Center in South Korea. These defectors typical cr oss the
border into China whose government does not grant them
refugee status, considering them irregular economic mi-
grants. Employment hope is a significa nt issue of co ncern
as it has consistently been found to contribute to economic
success for low-income jobseekers in both South Korea and
the Un ited States. Four factors of the Employment Hope
Scale (EHS) – psychologica l empowerment, futuristic self-
motivation, ut ilisation of skills and resources, and goal or i-
entation – were used as dimensions of employment hope.
Using a multivariate regression analysis, the results indicate
that age, education, repatriation and time spent as irregular
migrant significa ntly contributed to employment hope. We
conclude that pe rsonal and escape-related factors be con-
sidered contextually and d eliberately i n job training pro-
grams for newly arr iving North Korean defectors.
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EMPLOYMENT HOPE AM ONG NORTH KOREAN DEF ECTORS
Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuel a (Paraskevas et al., 2019). United Nations H igh Commissio ner of
Refugees (UNHCR, 2018) reported th at among 68 .5 million forcibly displa ced people in the wor ld, 25.4 mill ion
were refugees who were force d to flee his or her country and anoth er 3.1 million were asylum seekers who were
waiting t o be approved for refugee status. W hile refugee migration is a significant issue, there is paucity of re-
search in the context of service in dustry (Farmak i & Christou, 2019) and lack of focus on ‘rel ieving suffering ’ as
espoused by the Trans formative Service Res earchers (TSR) (Nas r & Fisk, 2019).
An exa mple of int ernatio nal migra tion that this pape r uses as a c ase for hig hlightin g the risk s and vuln erabil-
ity faced by refugees is one that is reflected in the large-scale cross border movement from North Korea since
the mid-199 0s. Th is was preci pita ted by a sever e food c risis and fa mine t hat ki lled 3 m illio n peo ple, h uman r ight s
violation by the Communis t government in the form of imprisonment, tort ure, rape and public executions (Yang,
2018). While China is the firs t stop fo r a rough estimate of 60,000 to 300, 000 Nor th Korean d efectors who
have crossed the rivers for free dom and food, the North Koreans are rather see n as irregular economic migrants
and no t grante d the refu gee stat us (Jung et al., 2017 ). Estim ates ran ge broad ly betwe en 2,00 0 and 3,0 00 Nor th
Korean defector s to have settled in the U.K., Canada , the United States, Australia an d other EU countries, many
of whom sought refugee status through onward migration after initially resettling in South Korea (Song & Bell,
2018).
The number of Nor th Korean defectors ente ring into South Korea has consist ently increased since 1998 from
a count of 947 until the annual number hit its peak at 2,914 in 2009 (Minis try of Unification, 2020). As of 2019, the
total number of North Korean defect ors having resettle d in South Korea surpass ed 33,000 even af ter the down-
ward turn in the annual nu mbers in 2010 at 2, 402 and in 2011 at 2,706 and a dras tic drop in 2012 to a count of
1,502 sin ce the Kim Jong-un r egime came into p ower. The new regime's s trict borde r control polici es and harsher
punishment for Nor th Koreans who intend to esc ape from North Kor ea furthe r reduced the numbe r to ab out
1,000 North Korea ns who are still arriv ing in South Korea every year (Gyupch anova, 2020). Responding to the
anticipated g rowth of newly e ntering North Ko rean defectors, the South Korean government passed the Act on
the Protection an d Settlement Support fo r North Korean Refugees (APSS NKR) in January 1997. In particular, the
South Korean governm ent revised the Act 13 times to bet ter support the defecto rs to achieve the financial inde-
pendence outcome. The Act intends to protect and support North Korean defectors to secure resources needed
for resettle ment as fully function ing and thriving member s of South Korean society.
The revised APSS NKR includes provision of basi c vocational trainings t hrough incorporating t he Korea
Polytechni cs programs into the curriculum of Hanawon ( The Settlement Suppor t C enter for North Korean
Refugees), the faci lity which was establi shed in 1999 to support the initia l settlement of North Kor ean defectors.
Those who take the vocati onal training co urses are encour aged to furth er improve their employment capaci ties
through measures such as financial incentives for certificate attainment ( Jung et al., 2010). Hanawon II opened
in 2011 with the goal of providing customised education and retraining; it expanded its curriculum to include
programs to increas e the vocational skills of its resident s in 2012. While the government has continued to exp and
institution al training programs for North Korean defectors with an aim to prevent them from falling into povert y, it
lacks programs de signed to address the unique employme nt needs of psychological stabi lity – that is employment
hope (Hong et al., 2009) – for boost ing their commitment to earn income thro ugh voluntary labour and to achieve
independen ce (Roh & Lee, 2016).
Once entering into the South Korean te rritory, No rth Korea n defector s are housed in Hanawon , which is
operated by the Ministry of Unifi cation in accordance with Ar ticle 10-1 of the A PSSNKR. T he facilit y aims to
assist emotional s tability, cultural adapta tion, and motivation for social an d financial independenc e, offering basic
education (420 hou rs) and voluntary-based s upplemental course s (438 hours) for 12 weeks befor e going through
the sett lement process th at includes bein g assigned a Nati onal Resident Regis tration Number, fi nding a job, and
deciding their place of residence in South Korea. According to Kim et al. (2009), however, North Korean defec-
tors fail to tap into the employment oppo rtunities provid ed through the se vocational tr ainings and empl oyment
support. In a study by Kim et al. (2018), nearly half (43%) of Nor th Korean vocational ed ucation participa nts who
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