Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia

World Association for Triple Helix and Future Strategy Studies (세계트리플헬릭스미래전략학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Migration Trajectories of North Korean Defectors: Former Returnees From Japan Becoming Defectors in East Asia

  • Han, Yujin (Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies at Waseda University)
  • Published : 2020.12.31
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

From 1959 to 1984, over 93,000 Koreans moved to North Korea from Japan as part of a repatriation project conducted during this time. Among them were people who had escaped from North Korea and immigrated to Japan and South Korea as well as the descendants of such people. This research examines the immigration trajectories of North Korean defectors related to the repatriation project and its effects on international relations in East Asia in a migration systems context. Specifically, it focuses on 26 North Korean defectors who have connections with Japan and settled in Japan and South Korea. It argues that the migration pathways of North Korean defectors linked with the repatriation project have been constructed with the cooperation of and amidst conflict between East Asian countries. To respond to the situation, North Korean defectors used their connections with Japan in amicable relations between Japan and China. However, after the relations went sour, defectors turned to informal transitional networks. If these strategies were unavailable, the defectors faced difficulties, unless they received social or capital support from the destination countries. After entering the destination country, those who settled in Japan have experienced different situations due to the inconsistency in administrative proceedings, while those in South Korea have been treated equally as other defectors. In this sense, some defectors have faced precarious situations in their immigration.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Haraguchi Memorial Asia Research Fund of 2019.

References

  1. Asashi Shimbun. (2010, September 8). Chugoku gyosen sencho koumu sikko bougai de taihoe [The Chinese captain was arrested for obstruction of justice]. Asashi Shimbun, p. 1.
  2. Bell, M. P. S. (2016). Making and breaking family: North Korea's Zainichi returnees and "the gift". Asian Anthropology, 15(3), 260-276. URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/1683478X.2016.1229250
  3. Betts, A. (2014). International relations and forced migrations. Oxford University Press. URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199652433.013.0004
  4. Castles, S., & Miller, M. J. (2009). The age of migration: International population movements in the modern world (4th ed.). Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
  5. Constitution of the Republic of Korea. Article 1(2;3). URL: http://www.law.go.kr/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=61603#0000
  6. Fahy, S. (2015). Marching through suffering: Loss and survival in North Korea. New York: Columbia University Press.
  7. Fawcett, T. J., & Arnold, F. (1987). Explaining diversity: Asian and Pacific immigration systems. In T. J. Fawcett & V. B. Carino (Eds.), Pacific bridges: The new immigration from Asia and the Pacific islands (pp. 453-473). NY: The Center for Migration Studies.
  8. Greenhill, K. M. (2010). Weapons of mass migration forced displacement, coercion, and foreign policy. Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press.
  9. Han, J. (2017). Choegeun hanjung sanghogan gyeongje sonsil jeomgeomgwa daeeung bangan [A study on the inspection and countermeasure of recent economic losses between Korea and China]. (Report No. 17-10). Hyundai Research Institute.
  10. Hollifield, J. F. (2012). Migration and international relations. Oxford University Press. URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195337228.013.0015
  11. Ishimaru, J. (2019, November 17). How did Zainichi Koreans live in North Korea? [Keynote address]. Tokyo, Japan.
  12. Japanese Cabinet Office. (n.d.). Gaikou ni kansuru yoron chosa [Annual poll reports on diplomacy]. https://survey.gov-online.go.jp/index-gai.html
  13. Jun, M. (2012). Migugeuro gan talbukjadeurui jeongchakgwa jeogeunge gwanhan jiljeok yeongu [A qualitative study on the settlement and adaptation of North Korean defectors to the United States]. Hankuksahhoebokjihak, 64(4), 89-111.
  14. Kato, H. (2019, October 27). 2018-2019 Activity Report [Conference session]. Twenty-second annual convention of Life Funds for North Korean Refugees, Tokyo, Japan.
  15. Kato, H. (2020, October 4). 2019-2020 Activity Report [Conference session]. Twenty-third annual convention of Life Funds for North Korean Refugees, Tokyo, Japan.
  16. KITA. (2020). Gukga suchurip [National import and export]. URL: http://stat.kita.net/stat/kts/ctr/CtrTotalImpExpList.screen
  17. Kikuchi, Y. (2009). Kitachōsen kikoku jigyō: Sōdai na rachi [Repatriation Project: Abduction or deportation?]. Tokyo: Chuo Koronsha.
  18. Kim, H. (2019, October 27). Recent Rescue of North Korean Refugees [Conference presentation abstract]. Twenty-second annual convention of Life Funds for North Korean Refugees, Tokyo, Japan.
  19. Kim, Y., & Takayanagi, T. (1995). Kitachōsen kikoku zigyou kankei siryosyu [Collection of materials related to the project of returning to North Korea]. Tokyo: Shinkansha.
  20. Kyodo News. (2002, May 14). Boumeisha wa oidase anami chu chugoku taishi ga shiji [Anami, Japanese ambassador in China, ordered refugees to be kicked out]. 47News. URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20140201193001/http://www.47news.jp/CN/200205/CN2002051401000407.html
  21. Kritz, M. M., & Zlotnik, H. (1992). Global interactions: Migration systems, processes, and policies. M. M. Kritz, L. L. Lim, & H. Zlotnik (Eds.), International Migration Systems. (pp. 1-16). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  22. Lankov, A. N. (2013). The real North Korea: Life and politics in the failed Stalinist utopia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  23. Lee, C. (2018, December 24). Jungguke pallyogan talbukyeosungdeul nanmin injeonguel [Let's grant refugee status to North Korean defector women, victims of human trafficking in China]. Juganjoseon. URL: http://weekly.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?nNewsNumb=002538100005&ctcd=C03
  24. Lee, C. J. (1996) China and Korea: Dynamic relations. Stanford: Hoover Institution.
  25. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (n.d.). Shinyou souryoujikan jiken [Shenyang consul general incident]. URL: https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/china/shinyo/
  26. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. (2019, August 8). Work or long-term stay. URL: https://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/long/index.html
  27. Ministry of Justice of Japan. (2006-2019). Shutsu nyukoku kanri toukei nenpo [Immigration statistics table]. URL: http://www.moj.go.jp/housei/toukei/toukei_ichiran_nyukan.html
  28. Ministry of Justice of Japan. (2016). Kokuseki to chiiki betsu zairyu gaikokujin suu no suii [The number of foreigners in Japan by nationality and region]. URL: www.moj.go.jp/content/001233975.pdf
  29. Ministry of Unification of Korea. (2020). Unification white paper. URL: https://www.unikorea.go.kr/books/whitepaper/whitepaper
  30. Ministry of Unification of Korea. (n.d.). Jiwon jeongchaegui byeoncheongwajeong [Transition process of support policy]. URL: https://www.unikorea.go.kr/unikorea/business/NKDefectorsPolicy/status/lately/
  31. Ministry of Unification of Korea. (n.d.). Ipguk mit jeongchakgwajeong [Entry and settlement process]. URL: https://www.unikorea.go.kr/unikorea/business/NKDefectorsPolicy/status/entry/
  32. Mizuno, N., & Mun, G. (2015). Zainichi chosenzin:rekisi to genzai [The ethnic Koreans in Japan: The history and present]. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
  33. Morris-Suzuki, T. (2007). Exodus to North Korea: Shadows from Japan's cold war. Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
  34. OHCHR. (1954, April 22). Convention relating to the status of refugees. URL: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/StatusOfRefugees.aspx
  35. Oakes, T. (1997). Place and the paradox of modernity. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 87(3), 509-531. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8306.00066
  36. Oh, W. (2011). Talbuk cheongnyeonui jeongcheseong yeongu [Identity politics of young North Korean defectors] [Doctoral dissertation]. Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
  37. Park, J. (2011). Jaeiljoseonin buksongmunjewa ilbonui gwigukyeomnyeok [Cooperation with Japanese association regarding the Repatriation Project of ethnic Korean residents in Japan]. Sahoewa yeoksa, 91, 31-60.
  38. Sakanaka, H. (2009). Kitachōsen kikokusha mondai no rekisi to kadai [History and Tasks for returnees to North Korea]. Tokyo: Shinkansha.
  39. UNHCR. (n.d.). States Parties to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol. URL: https://www.unhcr.org/protection/basic/3b73b0d63/states-parties1951-convention-its-1967-protocol.html
  40. UNHCR. (n.d.). Advisory Opinion on the Extraterritorial Application of Non-Refoulement Obligations under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. URL: https://www.unhcr.org/4d9486929.pdf
  41. Wada, H. (2012). Kitachōsen gendaishi [Modern History of North Korea]. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
  42. Weiner, M., & Russell, S. S. (2001). Demography and National Security. New York: Berghahn Books.
  43. Weiner, M. (1993). International migration and security. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
  44. Wertz, D., Oh, J., & Kim. I. (2016). DPRK diplomatic relations. The National Committee on North Korea. URL: https://www.ncnk.org/sites/default/files/content/resources/publications/NCNK_Issue_Brief_DPRK_Diplomatic_Relations.pdf
  45. Yomiuri Shimbun. (2002, November 9). Dappoku nihonzinzuma kyokugini kikoku [Japanese wives defected from North Korea returned to Japan in strict confidence]. Yomiuri Shimbun, pp. 1, 38, 39.
  46. Yoon, I. (2009). Bukan ijumin [North Korean immigrants]. Seoul: Jibmundang.

Cited by

  1. Guest Editorial: The Third Round of Migrant Incorporation in East Asia: An Introduction to the Special Issue on Friends and Foes of Multicultural East Asia vol.19, pp.2, 2020, https://doi.org/10.17477/jcea.2020.19.2.001