• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.125-138
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• 2019

In this study, we examined how the self-efficacies of North Korean defectors affect their adaptation to South Korean social culture. To this end, 209 North Korean defectors living in Seoul, Incheon, Wonju, or Ansan were surveyed. The results obtained showed shorter residence in South Korea and age were associated with greater fear of South Korean society and awareness of language and cultural differences. On the other hand, age and duration of residence were not found to affect relations between social adaptation and perceptions of low social status, discrimination, or prejudice by defectors, which suggests defectors often live in South Korea for a considerable time without overcoming perceptions of discrimination or prejudice. The factor that most influenced adaptation to social culture was self-efficacy, which affected not only socio-cultural adaptation but also self-sufficiency and the ability to promote oneself, which is essential for economic adaptation in South Korean society.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.593-604
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• 2019

This study is a phenomenological study attempted to examine adaptation of North Korean defectors to life in the South Korean society in a comprehensive and in-depth way. Data were collected from July 2016 to June 2017 by conducting interviews with 10 North Korean defectors about their experience in adaptation to life in the South Korean society. The collected data were analyzed by the Colaizzi method. The original data obtained from the participants were structured into 19 themes, 6 theme clusters and 4 category. The 4 category included 'to face the different world', 'lives as a stranger', 'to adapt something', 'to reach self-realization'. The 6 theme clusters included 'encounter with new world', 'psychological pain', 'obstacles of the reality', 'drifting in the South Korean society', 'becoming a member of South Korea' and 'an independent life'. Based on the results of this study, it would be necessary to conduct a repetitive study on the process of adaptation of North Korean defectors to life in the South Korean society, to develop an intervention program to help them adapt to the South Korean society, and to verify the effects of the developed program.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.14 no.1_spc
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• pp.487-518
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• 2008

The study identifies the major themes for integration education program which enhances the relationship between the north Korean refugees and their south Korean hosts. The themes were selected based on qualitative analysis of the socio-cultural conflicts experienced by the refugees and the hosts in the acculturation process. Twenty-eight north Korean refugees over age 20 participated in semi-structured interviews, and two south Korean groups in close contact with the refugees, police and volunteer teachers, were interviewed in focus groups. The interviews were recorded and transcribed for categorization and coding. The study views the acculturation issue as the two-sided integration task for both the north Korean refugees and the south Korean hosts rather than as the one-sided acceptance and assimilation task for the refugees.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.343-365
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• 2010

It is a follow-up study on acculturation types and adaptation level to South Korea among North Korean defecting adolescents who participated in the study with the same purpose five years ago(2003). The study of 2003(1st year study) was done with 90 adolescents, out of whom 46 participated in this study(2nd year study). The data from 46 subjects who participated in both 1st and 2nd studies were analyzed. The results on individual acculturation type showed that 40% of the respondents who belonged to 'marginal' or 'separated' types in the 1st study were changed to 'assimilated' or 'integrated' types in the 2nd. Twenty percent changed from 'assimilated' or 'integrated' types in the 1st study to 'marginal' or 'separated' in the 2nd. Furthermore, the higher is the acceptance level of South Korean culture, the lower are their psycho-social problems and the higher is the satisfaction level of daily lives in South Korea. While the higher is the preservation level of North Korean culture, the higher is aggression. Based on the results, the study developed discussion on diverse alternative plans for helping North Korean defecting adolescents in successfully adjusting to the South Korean society.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.27-33
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• 2017

The problem of social adaptation of North Korean defectors is becoming increasingly important, as its core significance shifted from welfare to the preparatory stage of United Korea. Hence, this research tries to comprehend the 'factors that enhance their social adaptation'. For this end, by theoretically considering, support resources centered around economic goals did indeed increase the employment rate, but the 'premature social adaptation' did not help them form their own social identity. This led the employment to become another form of social failure and difficulty in social adaptation. Furthermore, by going through interview, the importance of 'social dependence' is emphasized and it was shown that it was 'relationship' that affects both social adaptation and difficulty in social adaptation. Accordingly, this research suggests that it is vital to make a communicative environment in which South and North Korean citizens can freely communicate. This will not only lead to enhancement of social adaptation to South Korean society, unsolvable by economic independence, but it will also lead to more effective 'economic support' policies.

• Informatization Policy
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.67-83
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• 2018

This study explores how social media influences individual's social development and well-being. Social media is discussed as an effective tool when individuals lacking social and psychological resources are trying to expand their social networks. This study focuses on the social media use of North Korean defectors, who, in general, have closed social media networks in the South Korean society. This study tries to analyze empirically the effect of social media use on North Korean defectors' satisfaction with our society. In particular, this study focuses on how the use of social media influences satisfaction with their life in South Korea at different levels of their emotional states. This study explores that the relationship between social media and satisfaction with their life in South Korea varies based upon the degree of self-esteem and anxiety. This study expects that social media might provide greater benefits for those who are experiencing low self-esteem and high anxiety. In addition, this study conducts the same analysis for the general public and then compares its results with the survey on North Korean defectors. According to the results of North Korean defectors' survey, the impact of social media use on satisfaction with their life in South Korea was greater for those with high anxiety than for those with low anxiety. Meanwhile, the impact was greater for those with high self-esteem than for those with low self-esteem.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• no.39
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• pp.29-56
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to find out correlation and predictors of posttraumatic growth of North Korean refugees in South Korea in 7years. This survey was conducted on 105 North Korean refugees in 7 years with questions on depression, anxiety, socio-demographic characteristics, personal & social variables, psychological trauma in North Korea, stress experience in South Korea. The influence of these variables was analysed. Result indicated that education in North Korea and living period in the 3rd country iwas associated with PTG. Date for escaping from North Korea, depression, acculturative stress in South Korea, hope for future, social support from South Korean, perceived satisfaction had correlation with PTG. And Date for escaping from North Korea, living period in the 3rd country, social support from South Korean, acculturative stress in South Korea predicted PTG of North Korean refugees. Finally, social political intervention and mental health service programs for North Korean refugees were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.19-44
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate the types of personality of North Korean female refugees, which were extracted from the T-scores of SPFQ(scales of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire) and psychological adaptation. For this, The data of 158 North Korean female refugees located in Seoul Yangchun-Gu and Gayang-Gu was analyzed. The results were as follows. Firstly, the ratio of over 65T in ego-strength, self-control, social-boldness, anxiety scales and under 34T in abstractedness and openness to change scales was higher than in other scales. Secondly, there were statistically significant differences in personality characteristics based on the demographic variables especially age and the term of residence in South Korea. Thirdly, three distinct groups were extracted from the K-means cluster analysis. The first group was characterized with emotional-unstability and negative emotionality. And the North Korean female refugees in the second group hesitated to enter into and maintain proper relationships with south korean, while they were unlikely to accept norms and rules in South Korea. The third group, characterized by higher emotional stability, ego-strength, and agreeableness, was met normal range in all the scale of SPFQ. Finally, each three groups were showed statistically significant differences in psychological adaptation scales(self-identity and resilience). We expected that these results contributed to explore the psychological and the political plans for North Korean female refugees' settlement in South Korea.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.325-356
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• 2006

This study deals with information poverty and information service for information welfare of North Korean refugees. On the basis of the data collected and analyzed, it was concluded that North Korean refugees were situated at information poverty, as compared to the situation of South Koreans. It was also found out that their information poverty was caused by the inferiority of their information literary and information environment. In conclusion, this study made some suggestions for overcoming the information poverty and promoting the information welfare of North Korean refugees.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.147-163
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• 2004

The present research investigated and compared stress coping strategies of North Korean refugees with those of South Koreans in the purpose to predict and prepare psychological conflicts expected to occur during the Korean reunification. Adapted from Han, Hur, Chae, and Kim(2001), North Korean refugees recorded their coping strategies that they would employ in stressful situations varying in term of three aspects of stress causes - 2(locus: internal/external) × 2(stability: temporal/enduring) × 2(context: individual/interpersonal) - and the responses were classified in terms of three dimensions(active/passive, approach/avoidance, cognitive/affective/behavioral). In the temporal stress situations, adaptive North Korean refugees preferred active over passive, approaching over avoiding, and behavioral over cognitive/affective stress coping strategies more than maladaptive North Korean refugees did. Also, in the stressful situations caused by external causes, they were more likely to take active rather than passive, approaching rather than avoiding copying. Although active copying strategies were preferred to passive ones by adaptive North Korean refugees in individual stressful situations, approaching copying strategies were preferred to avoiding ones by them in interpersonal stressful situations. These findings were found to be different from the pattern of South Korean's stress coping strategies in the same situations. In conclusion, the differences were discussed in the view of psychological integration during Korean reunification.