• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.395-402
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• 2017

This study examinedthe adaptive flexibility of North Korean adolescent defectors in order to examine how they should see themselves and cope with various situations, and analyzedthe effect of their resilience on their self-esteem and social problem-solving ability. The study subjects were 223 North Korean adolescents (10 - 25 year olds) living in South Korea. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 23.0 statistical programs. The study results showed that the resilience of North Korean adolescents had a statistically significant effect on their self-esteem and social problem-solving ability. In particular, resilience had a high correlation with self-esteem, and self-esteem had a high correlation with social problem solving ability. In addition, self-esteem was the mediating factor between resilience and social problem-solving ability. The self-esteem of North Korean adolescent defectors played a particularly important role. Therefore, professional protection and support should be provided with the help of related experts such as youth leaders and counselors who would be able to enhance the self-esteem of North Korean adolescent defectors.