A Needs‐centred Educational Support Model for the Career Transitions of North Korean Defectors: Implications for South Korea's Support Policy
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12086 |
| Date | 01 February 2016 |
| Published date | 01 February 2016 |
A Needs-centred Educational Support Model
for the Career Transitions of North Korean
Defectors: Implications for South Korea’s
Support Policy
Kyungran Roh* and Romee Lee**
ABSTRACT
North Korean defectors have faced significant challenges in finding and keeping jobs in the
South Korean labour market due to their many differences from South Korean workers. As the
number of defectors has increased, South Korea has experienced an increased need for
employment support to assist defectors in overcoming challenges in their employment and
leading them to stable economic status. This study aims to develop a needs-centred educational
support model for defectors’career transitions, compare the content of suggested support pro-
grammes with the content of currently provided support programmes, and suggest relevant pol-
icy implications. Based on this study’sfindings, the authors argue that defectors’employment
needs differ from those of other groups of job seekers in Korea; thus, this population should
be served differently with consistent educational support. Each stage of the developed
model provides appropriate support programmes that reflect the unique employment needs of
defectors.
INTRODUCTION
The social landscape of South Korea is changing rapidly due to the influx of groups of “foreigners”
and “new residents”, including migrant workers and marriage migrants. Although South Korea is
not a country that officially accepts immigrants, increased numbers of such settlers have changed
South Korea’s taken-for-granted ethnic homogeneity and have influenced policymakers to focus on
issues of settlement, whether temporary or permanent. Another unique influx of people –North
Korean defectors (hereafter defectors) –represents a social group that has added complexity to set-
tlement policy issues beyond multiculturalization. Under the overall policy regarding settlement
issues for newly emerging social groups, defectors are uniquely located due to their presumed
homogeneity as “brothers”. Differences have developed over 50 years of division, however, making
them into a type of migrant unique to the South (Yoon, 2009).
Since the late 1990s, South Korea has seen a dramatic increase of defectors, with the total num-
ber increasing from 947 in 1998 to 24,077 in 2012 (The Korean Ministry of Unification, 2012).
Reasons for this dramatic increase include the prolonged famine in the North and dissatisfaction
with the regime. Most defectors have risked illegal border-crossing to China and enter South Korea,
* Sungshin Women’s University, Korea.
** Kyungin Women’s College, Korea.
doi: 10.1111/imig.12086
©2013 The Authors
International Migration ©2013 IOM
International Migration Vol. 54 (1) 2016
ISS N 00 20- 7985 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
either directly from China or via other countries. Recently, many defectors have crossed borders
with their family members, having planned their escape for a long time (Lee et al., 2004).
Accordingly, the South Korean government has realigned support policies for defectors based on
a fundamental change in the notion of defectors. Previously recognized as “national heroes”who
cross the border at the risk of death, such people are now considered “special migrants”who have
distinctive needs for life in a new land (The Korean Ministry of Unification, 2007). Under this
changed notion, the focus of government support has changed rapidly from a concept of “compre-
hensive protection”to “support for achieving self-reliance”. Accordingly, educational support is
regarded as one of the most significant elements in the government’s support policies designed for
successful settlement.
With this changed understanding, the government has emphasized educational support for defec-
tors’career transition so that they can find and maintain employment. Such support, however, has
been based largely on existing career transition models that focus on helping job seekers in general
(Roh et al., 2007). Despite numerous efforts to boost successful career transitions, defectors remain
on the very margin of the labour market, endure high unemployment rates, and are overwhelmingly
engaged in jobs characterized by poor working conditions (Song, 2009).
The present study aims to develop a needs-centred educational support model for defectors’
career transitions. It compares the suggested content of support with the current programmes, and
suggests relevant policy implications. The remainder of this article is organized as follows. First,
representative career transition models are analysed to gain insight into developing a needs-centred
educational support model for defectors. Second, the findings from an employment needs assess-
ment survey, implemented with 212 defectors, are addressed to investigate intervention points that
require support. Third, a needs-centred educational support model for defectors’career transition is
introduced and compared with present support programmes. Finally, suggestions for policymakers
and future researchers are provided to help improve policies and practices.
DEFECTORS IN THE SOUTH KOREAN LABOUR MARKET
In the South Korean context, defectors differ from other groups of migrants such as migrant work-
ers and marriage migrants. First, defectors are entitled to gain Korean citizenship immediately after
they enter the South (The North Korean Defectors Assistance Law §2, 1.). Migrant workers
(approx. 240,000), however, can stay only temporarily on the condition that they obtain an employ-
ment permit from a Korean employer in certain industries (The Korean Ministry of Employment
and Labor, 2012). As such, they mainly work in the jobs that South Koreans shun (Choi, 2011).
Marriage migrants (approx. 120,000) can obtain Korean citizenship only after they prove that their
marriage is legitimate (The Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2010). Defectors, therefore, are
accepted without question, whereas other types of migrants are accepted, more or less, condition-
ally. Second, unlike other groups of migrants, defectors are exposed to tremendous suffering such
as family deaths, poverty, and violence in the process of defecting (Lee et al., 2004). Defectors
therefore need professional support to relieve their mental and physical exhaustion before they enter
into a general settlement process.
Defectors’overall characteristics must be explored, therefore, to determine their unique character-
istics as a workforce entity. First, regarding gender, female defectors have outnumbered their male
counterparts since 2002 because of their relative ease of defecting. Women now account for 69 per
cent of the total defector population. Because female marriage migrants (88.4%) and male migrant
workers (73.9%) dominate the other groups of migrants (The Korean Ministry of Unification,
2012), female defectors are likely to compete with marriage migrants, while male defectors com-
pete with migrant workers in the Korean labour market.
Educational Support for North Korean Defectors 33
©2013 The Authors. International Migration ©2013 IOM
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