• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.11
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• pp.552-558
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• 2021

The food shortage in North Korea is a serious situation that has spanned the mid-1990s to today. North Korean refugee children, even those born in North Korea, China, or South Korea, had poor nutritional status at birth; thus, their growth and nutritional status should be continuously monitored. This review focused on the health status of North Korean children and the nutritional status of North Korean refugee children upon settling in South Korea. Immediately after entering South Korea, North Korean refugee children were shorter and lighter than South Korean children and had a serious nutritional status. Over time, their nutrition status improved, but they remained shorter and lighter than South Korean children. A new obesity problem was also observed. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously monitor their growth and nutritional status.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.129-141
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• 2024

Purpose: The study investigated the relationships between key variables, including the level of parenting knowledge, acculturative stress, depression, and the strengths and difficulties associated with their children's emotions and behavior, among North Korean refugee mothers who faced the challenging task of adapting to Korean society while raising their children. Methods: A descriptive study design was used. Data were collected from 130 North Korean refugee mothers between September and November 2023. Results: The participants had very limited parenting knowledge, and 82.3% of them scored 21 or higher on the depression scale used in community epidemiological studies. Higher levels of parenting knowledge and lower levels of depression were associated with lower levels of acculturative stress. Moreover, higher levels of depression were associated with more emotional and behavioral difficulties in children. Maternal depression, age, and employment status were identified as factors that influenced emotional and behavioral problems in preschool-aged children. Conclusion: These findings underscore the importance of providing parent education and mental health support programs for North Korean refugee families in order to improve parents' parenting skills and emotional well-being.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.193-219
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• 2006

This study analyzes 47 articles dealing with refugees in library and information science field. The subjects of these articles are such various as the cases of refugee service in libraries and information centers, the library service guidance for refugees, information resources of refugees and forced migration study, and information need and Information seeking behavior of refugees. However, the research of this area has such limitations and weakness as the small scale of articles about refugees, the scarcity of professional researchers, the deficient studies concentrating refugees directly, and the unprepared research methods. Tn particular, there was no article about refugee which was produced by the library and information science field in South Korea. Urgently needed is the research of information needs and information seeking behavior of North Korean refugees considering the recent influx of North Korean refugee into South Korea.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.102-110
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was done to develop a theory on the early childhood caring experience of North Korean refugee mothers and how such caring affects how they deal with the socio-psychological problems they face as North Korean refugees. Methods: Data were gathered by indepth interviews, participant observation, and medical records, and were analyzed using the Grounded Theory methods of Strauss and Corbin (1998). Results: From open coding 62 concepts, 23 subcategories and 11 categories were derived, and the North Korean refugee mothers' caring experience was revealed to be 'hopeful upbringing'. A central theme common to the participants was 'coexistence of expectations and worries'. Conclusion: The results of this study provide theoretical grounds to understand North Korean refugee mothers' child care experiences and offer personalized nursing and a deeper understanding of their needs by looking at their experience. Findings may also be useful to help nurses who care for North Korean refugee mother-child dyads in the community and in clinical settings to gain insight on this special needs group, and facilitate the development of interventions based on better understanding of the mothers' experiences.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.201-228
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• 2013

The research goal of this study is to investigate the realities and difficulties of English education for young children of North Korean refugee mothers. The subjects of this study were 201 North Korean refugee mothers of 3-5-year-old children. They were surveyed and some of them were interviewed on their children's English education. The results of the study are as follows. First, most of the North Korean refugee mothers in this study provided their children with English education since their children were 3 years old. The major reason for the English education was their children's peer group who received English education early in their lives. Their educational interaction periods with their children were less than 10 minutes, and they had their young children study English alone, focusing solely on their assignment. Next, North Korean refugee mothers claimed that the biggest difficulties for teaching English to their children were cost, lack of information, lack of time to teach English, and unsatisfactory English education. They expressed that the cost for English education was a burden on the family to some extent.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.35-58
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to identify the moderating effect of social support between daily life stress and suicidal ideation of North Korean refugee women in South Korea. We survey with self-report questionnaires for 156 refugee women, conduct descriptive and regression analysis. As results, (1) almost half of the surveyed experience suicidal ideation in a year, (2) daily life stress affects suicidal ideation controlling with depression, PTSD, alcohol use, income, and age, (3) social support which North Korea refugee women perceive buffers the relationship between life stress and suicidal ideation. From these results, implications are suggested. Gender cognitive policies are needed in North Korea refugees in South Korea. Also, community mental health services and sustainable community program for North Korea refugee women are important to prevent their suicidal attempts.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.17-36
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• 2016

Objective: Taking note of the fact that North Korean refugee children experience frequent separation from their mothers and long-term maternal deprivation during their childhood, this study examined the relationship between children's separation experiences and attachment. Methods: A total of 37 children aged from 5 to 9 were assessed on their attachment using the Separation Anxiety Test, and their mothers reported on their child's separation experiences. Results and Conclusion: The major findings of this study were as follows: first, the result of evaluating their attachment pattern showed North Korean refugee children had a high level of insecure attachment with a high tendency for avoidant attachment. This avoidant attachment tendency is probably due to growing up in a repressed emotional environment by frequently experiencing maternal separation in North Korea, China, and even after settling down in South Korea. Second, children's secure attachment level was higher if they did not experience separation from their mother, if their mother had a high level of education in South Korea, or if they lived with a big family.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.72-83
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• 2023

Purpose: North Korean refugee women struggle with the double burden of adaptation and parenting as mothers in a new environment. This study aimed to identify the knowledge, confidence, and educational needs regarding newborn care among North Korean refugees, and to determine differences between these variables according to participants' characteristics. Methods: Data were collected from September to October 2022, and 150 North Korean refugee women recruited using convenience sampling participated in the study. Descriptive statistics, the t-test, analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation analysis were used for data analysis. Results: The mean scores were as follows: parenting knowledge, 14.97 out of 25; infection prevention knowledge and confidence, 20.09 out of 33 and 51.37 out of 80, respectively; and educational needs, 245.86 out of 310. Significant differences were observed in newborn care, knowledge, and confidence according to maternal age, educational level, family structure, and pregnancy history. Significant positive correlations were observed between the participants' newborn care knowledge, confidence, and educational needs. Conclusion: Personalized educational programs should be implemented to enhance North Korean refugee women's confidence in newborn care, focusing on areas with low knowledge levels and high educational needs and enabling women to achieve healthy pregnancy and childbirth, and to parent well.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.8 no.9
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• pp.133-141
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• 2018

In Europe side, Most of North Korean refugee lives in New Malden, Kingstone resident with South Korean and international student near London, United Kingdom (UK).The reason why dispersed around in Europe is can be issue in societies with secure problem and temporary protection status have to be accept for change the concept in international law and refugee law. their ethnicity is organized by North Korean defectors, South Korean, Korean-Chinese in the area of New Malden and Kingstone.it means small unification is going to foundation on abroad. also their solidarity of diasporic integration development would ahead. and have to organise of Coexistence between U.K and thier ethnicity. for Humanitarian way for vulnerable. But Europe is not the most welcoming place for North Koreans at the moment. The European Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea, an advocacy group, reported in 2015 that many European countries had rejected the vast majority of North Korean asylum cases. Partly this is to do with how governments view North Korean defectors: the UK "considers North Koreans as South Korean citizens, thus excluding them from refugee status".

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.300-312
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• 2023

Purpose: This study investigated knowledge of atopic dermatitis and food allergies, as well as health information literacy, among North Korean refugee mothers with preschool-age children and explored how these variables were related to participants' characteristics. Methods: A descriptive study design was used. Data from 130 North Korean refugee mothers were collected between January and March 2023. Results: The mean scores were 14.48 of 30 for atopic dermatitis knowledge; 2.77 of 10 for food allergy knowledge, and 56.95 of 80 for health information literacy. Significant differences were observed in knowledge of atopic dermatitis based on breastfeeding duration (F=4.12, p=.009), and in knowledge of food allergies based on mixed feeding (F=3.11, p=.049). Health information literacy showed significant relationships with education level (F=3.76, p=.026), occupation (F=3.99, p=.021), checking nutritional information (t=2.91, p=.004), mixed feeding (F=4.50, p=.014), and atopic dermatitis diagnosis (t=6.86, p=.001). Significant positive correlations were observed between atopic dermatitis knowledge, food allergy knowledge, and health information literacy. Conclusion: Personalized educational programs should be implemented to improve awareness of allergies and health information literacy among North Korean refugee mothers, which would help them find, evaluate, and understand health-related information. These programs should focus on providing nutrition and dietary education to promote healthy growth in children and prevent diseases.