An Exploratory Study on the Adjustment Experiences of Refugees Living in South Korea: Focusing on a positive perspective

Abstract

Although there has been a global rise in the number of refugees forcibly displaced from their homes, much of what we know about the refugee adjustment are based on those who resettle in neighboring nations or in the West. Little is known about how refugees and asylum seekers fare as they seek safety and new opportunities in an ethnically homogeneous East Asian context. In 2012, South Korea became one of the first Asian nations to pass a legislation to provide legal basis for protecting refugee rights and protocols for resettlement assistance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the narratives of adjustment of international refugees living in Korea and to draw meaningful insights from their experiences. We conducted in-depth interviews with five international refugees with at least five years of residency in Korea and had obtained legal recognition as a refugee. The interviews were analyzed using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009). The results showed four primary themes underlying the adjustment experiences narrated by international refugees: 1) Warriors fighting for survival and faith, 2) Wounds of loss and difference, 3) Unfolding new life and opportunities, and 4) Life beyond the refugee status. The international refugees’ narratives reflected their determination to resist political persecution in their homeland, their willingness to undertake an arduous process to gain recognition as refugees in South Korea, their sense of cultural dislocation, and their appreciation for new opportunities in Korea beyond basic survival.