NORTH KOREAN Refugees: Empowerment by the Police s Gender and Age

Abstract

Purpose: This study has analyzed the differences in the empowerment by gender and age of the police officers serving for the South Korean security police organization, which is dedicated to the North Korean refugees, who are increasing in number due to the economic downfall of the North Korean regime. In addition, it is sought to discuss the policy measures which can help improve the new empowerment of the North Korean refugees and the security police organization analyzed based on the results of this study. Method: In this study, to analyze the differences in the empowerment as per the gender and age of the police officers serving in the security police organizations, 100 police officers from the security department who have work experiences related to the North Korean refugees with the South Korean police officers as the group of re-cruitment in 2020 were targeted, and the survey was conducted by using the Self-Administration Method. Results: In terms of the differences in the empowerment as per gender, with Q-1 What I m doing is important to me , men demonstrated a higher level of significance than women at the significance level of 5%, and in terms of the differences in the empowerment as per age, 8 out of 20 questions demonstrated that empowerment was higher for those in their 50s or older than in those in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. Conclusion: The weight of the women police officers in the organizational culture of the security police for the expansion of the North Korean refugees ought to be increased. Among the North Korean refugees, women ac-count for twice as many as men, and the role of women police officers in counseling and managing them ought to be taken seriously. Furthermore, there is a need for an ambience where the empowerment possessed by the police officers in their 50s and older may be conveyed to the young police officers, and the values generated from the long experiences of working with the North Korean refugees, that is, a strong sense of the view of nation, ought to be well conveyed to the young police officers.