Women in transit: Risky journeys and precarious lives among North Korean female escapees in China
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| Author | Sangmi Sung |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.13049 |
City University of New York, New York, New
York, USA
Correspondence
Sangmi Sung, City University of New York, 365
5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Email: ssung@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Abstract
This article seeks to unpack the gendered dynamic of
transit migration through a case study of North Korean
women escapees in China. Drawing on the notion of situ-
ated agency, which implies that agency is a kind of social
embedding, this paper analysed 30 interview narratives
of North Korean women to capture the structural factors
that shape their risky journeys and precarious lives in tran-
sit. The content analysis reveals key gendered dimensions
of transit migration. The feminized marketization in North
Korea caused a dramatic increase in the outflow of women
to China. The border-crossing and deportation experiences
of female escapees are precipitated by a complicated smug-
gling and trafficking industry. Despite their hyper-precarious
lifeworlds in the transit country, these women show varying
degrees of resilience and resourcefulness that enable them
to move on to their next steps of life. The findings broaden
our understanding on the meaning of gendered mobility in
transit migration shaped by the deterrent border regime.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Women in transit: Risky journeys and precarious
lives among North Korean female escapees in
China
Sangmi Sung
DOI: 10.1111/imig.13049
Received: 15 December 2021 Revised: 9 June 2022 Accepted: 29 July 2022
INTRODUCTION
This research aims to understand the gender dimension and meaning of mobility in transit migration based on a
case study of North Korean (NK) women asylum-seekers 1 in China. The case of NK women who have fled to China,
the transit country, raises various questions about gender dynamics and the meaning of agency amid the compli-
cated relationship between asylum seekers and traffickers in transit migration. Intersecting with the trend of femi-
nized migration, the act of illegal border-crossing can easily degenerate into trafficking for women asylum seekers.
287
© 2022 International Organization for Migration.
International Migration. 2023;61:287–300. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imig
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