North Korean Children Research Articles

Nutritional status of North Koreans and related perceptions among South Korean adults

Objectives: North Koreans have been facing chronic food shortages and malnutrition. This study examined the nutritional status of North Koreans and the perceptions of South Korean adults regarding their nutritional status. Methods: The nutritional status was examined using nutritional indicators for the general population, children, and reproductive-aged women in North Korea. An online survey was conducted among 1,000 South Korean adults aged 19–69 years to investigate their perceptions regarding the nutritional status of North Koreans.Results: Although the nutritional status of children in North Korea has consistently improved, significant progress in the general population and reproductive-aged women in the country remains elusive. The prevalence of malnutrition among North Korean children has decreased to a level that is not considered severe based on international standards, although it shows a substantial difference from that among South Korean children. The prevalence of undernourishment and food insecurity in North Korea remains over 40%. South Korean adults perceive the nutritional status of North Koreans as being more severe than it is in reality. Notably, a significant inconsistency exists between the perceived and actual nutritional status of North Korean children, with over 95% of South Korean adults perceiving North Korean children’s malnutrition as being more severe than it actually is. Moreover, South Korean adults in their 20s to 40s tended to perceive the nutritional status of North Koreans as being more severe than those in their 50s to 60s did.Conclusions: The nutritional status of North Koreans is a matter of concern. The disparity between South Koreans’ perceptions of the nutritional status of North Koreans and the actual status highlights the need for accurate information dissemination to effectively address malnutrition in North Korea. These efforts could be instrumental in enhancing public awareness and fostering social consensus on food aid and nutritional support programs for North Korea.

재북시기 윤세평의 아동문학연구

This study examined the structure and characteristics of Yoon Se-pyeong's two legends, ‘Neungrado and Juamsan’ and ‘Hulryeongdosa,’ while examining the patterns of children's literary activities during the period of North Korea. Yoon Se-pyeong contributed to the expansion of the acceptance of children's literature by leading the “Literature Newspaper” from the period when the controversy over North Korean children's literature heated up. Neungrado and Juamsan, published above Yoon Se-pyeong's participation in children's literature, conveys the interest of legends according to historical records and awakens the dignity of the socialist capital plain. On the other hand, the legend of “Hulryeongdosa,” based on the Imjin War, added a heroic narrative of the Imjin War along with historical records. Through this, it has a sense of purpose to resist the anti-foreign power combined by the people. In the future, I hope that research will continue to enrich the connotation of North Korean children's literature.

Comparative Analysis of Health Patterns and Gaps due to Environmental Influences in South Korea and North Korea, 2000–2017

Objectives: To conduct a comparative study of children’s health in South Korea versus North Korea focusing on air pollution. Methods: We used annual mortality rate, prevalence, and environmental indicators data from the World Bank and World Health Organizations (WHO). Trend analysis of the two Koreas was conducted to evaluate changes in health status over time. Spearman’s correlation analysis was used to find out the correlation between environmental indicators and children’s health status. Results: We found a distinct gap in children’s health status between the two Koreas. While North Korea reported a higher death rate of children than South Korea, both showed a decreasing trend with the gap narrowing from 2000 to 2017. The prevalence of overweight and obesity increased and that of thinness decreased in both Koreas. Except PM2.5 exposure, South Korea reported higher figures in most indicators of air pollutant emissions (South Korea, mean (SD)=28.3 (2.0); North Korea, mean (SD)=36.5 (2.8), P-value=0.002). Conclusion: This study empirically discovered the gaps and patterns of children’s health between South Korea and North Korea. North Korean children experienced more severe health outcomes than children in South Korea. These findings imply that epigenetic modification caused by environmental stressors affect children’s health in the two Koreas despite similar genetic characteristics. Considering the gaps in children’s health between the two Koreas, more attention and resources need to be directed towards North Korea because the necessary commodities and services to improve children’s health are lacking in North Korea.

North Korean Children's Health and the Role of Maternal and Child Health Experts

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the health indicators and nutritional status of North Korean children have improved steadily since 2010. However, malnutrition remains a serious condition, with 19.1% of children stunted. in addition, although the nutritional status of North Korean refugee children has gradually improved since they settled in South Korea, a rapid increase in obesity rates has put them under a double burden of malnutrition and obesity. For the health of North Korean children who are at risk because of the recent rapid increase in coronavirus disease 2019 cases in North Korea, maternal and child health experts should work together to request immediate humanitarian assistance from the international community and the South Korean government. Furthermore, it is necessary to develop a maternal and child health program in preparation for the resumption of inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation in the future.

Relations of Vocabulary and Cognitive Skills With Reading Performance of North Korean Students in South Korean Schools.

We examined if North (n = 123) and South Korean (n = 123) children in Grades 3 to 8 studying in South Korea differ in their reading, vocabulary, and literacy-related cognitive skills, and whether language and literacy-related skills contribute to reading outcomes differently among North and South Korean children. The results showed that South Korean students performed better in syllable deletion, RAN-Letters, vocabulary, decoding fluency, and reading comprehension after controlling for age and SES. No differences were observed in phonological awareness, RAN-Digits, and visual processing tasks. A multigroup path analysis showed that phonological awareness and vocabulary were more strongly associated with decoding fluency for the South than the North Korean students, whereas the opposite was true for visual processing. The results suggest that South Korean vocabulary knowledge may be a significant factor in addressing the academic difficulties facing North Korean children in South Korean schools and that it is important to consider linguistic characteristics when examining the variations in reading skills and vocabulary knowledge of North Korean students in South Korean schools. These findings have implications for North Korean children's literacy instruction in South Korean schools.

Displaying North Korean Children: From Local to Global Memories

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) looms large in international political and security spheres because of its harsh domestic dictatorship as well as its pursuit of nuclear weapons. It is a country that is difficult to access physically because of its controlled borders, and the evolution of North Korean society is clouded by the propaganda that is routinely dispatched by the government. As a result of the state’s focus on militarization and regime survival, specific population groups are often ignored in broader debates about North Korean society, yet they provide important insights into the paradoxical nature of the North Korean society; children are one such group. While there is plenty of evidence, gathered by NGOs and IGOs, that North Korean children suffer from both physical and emotional violence in North Korea, they are also celebrated and revered by the government: the Mangyongdae Children’s Palace in Pyongyang, for instance, is seemingly dedicated to children’s after-school activities and well-being. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in the DPRK during International Children’s Day in 2019, this article examines the place of children in the construction of North Korean national identity and exposes how children are both celebrated and utilized to become “memorable,” supporting the North Korean government’s survival goals via large-stage installations such as the gymnastic Mass Games.

Analysis of social recognition network of North Korean children’s rights and welfare through big data

Analysis of social recognition network of North Korean children’s rights and welfare through big data

Research trends related to North Korean children through keyword network analysis

Research trends related to North Korean children through keyword network analysis

Changes in health status of North Korean children and emerging health challenges of North Korean refugee children.

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.

중국 내 탈북여성·아동 인권침해 경험 분석

중국 내 탈북여성·아동 인권침해 경험 분석

1950~1960년대 북한 아동가요의 지향

1950~1960년대 북한 아동가요의 지향

북한 아동잡지의 체제와 아동 글쓰기의 이데올로기 내면화 경향 연구 - 김정은 시대의 정기간행물 『아동문학』(2014~2017년)을 중심으로 -

본 연구는 북한에서 조선작가동맹 중앙위원회 기관지로 매월 발행되는 『아동문학』의 체제를 살펴 잡지의 구성에서 보이는 아동 교육적 의의와 특징을 미래담론과 연관하여 알아보고, 아동문학 작품이 아동의 글쓰기로 이어지는 양상, 그리고 아동 글짓기로 이어지는 지점에서 일어나는 이데올로기의 내면화 경향을 살피는 것을 목적으로 한다.BR 그들은 아동들에게 “아동문단을 장식해가고 있는 우리의 나어린 문학동이들”이라 부르며 문학가가 되는 길을 가르친다. 또한 생활 경험을 잘 잡아서 세심하고 구체적으로 관찰하여 쓸 것, 그리고 성찰할 것 등을 강조하여 최고지도자에 대한 절실한 마음이 충정으로 깊어질 수 있도록 하였다. “생활의 본질을 안고 있는 사상적 알맹이”인 종자는 작품 전반을 흐르는 주체문예이론으로 아동문학 전반을 규정하며, 아동에게 생활 속의 사상적 알맹이를 시대정신에 맞게 쓸 것을 강조한다.BR 아동 글쓰기를 통해 내면화되는 북한의 정치이데올로기는 먼저 지도자의 이미지를 상징화해나가는 수령형상의 문학으로 다져진다. 최고지도자의 이미지는 주체의 태양으로, 해님으로 상징되며, 해님:꽃의 도식이 작가에서 아동에게 그대로 이어 나타난다. 그리고 소년단원들의 성적증을 내세우는 교육열은 집단주의정신으로 나타난다. 북한의 어린이들에게 늘 강조되는 집단주의를 종자로, 학급 반과 학교 동무들 모두가 5점꽃을 피울 수 있기를 자랑으로 삼는 것이다. 또한 아동의 작품에 등장하는 과학기술의 발전과 탄도미사일 성공에 대한 자긍심은 미제국주의에 대한 적개심과 조롱으로 연결되고 있다.

Creative Diplomacy in Action

Creative Diplomacy in Action An interview with Jena Woodbury by Jillian Harris When Joan Woodbury and Shirley Ririe founded the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in 1964, they were two University of Utah dance professors driven by the mission that "dance is for everybody." Now fifty-five years old and thriving, this contemporary dance company recently was selected for the seventh season of DanceMotion USA, a joint program between the US Department of State and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Between May first and thirtieth, 2018, the Company performed and taught throughout South Korea and Mongolia, focusing its activities on connecting with underserved communities, such as at-risk youth. Their work expanded upon over five decades of using dance as a means of bridging physical, psychological, and cultural divides between people, generating forms of understanding so desperately needed in our current political climate. Dance has historically played a role in federal government funded programs with both national and international scopes. In 1972, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) selected the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company for the Dance Touring Program and the Artist in the Schools Program, allowing many communities throughout the country to experience modern dance for the first time. As a dancer with the Company in the late 1990s, I had an opportunity to tour as part of one NEA-funded projects, teaching in a range of places from juvenile detention centers to Native American reservation areas. This work impressed upon me dance's ability to create dialogues amongst populations that may not normally intersect. On an international level, connections made through dance have served the United State's diplomatic efforts, and here too, the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company has played a role. Touring engagements have included South Africa during the Apartheid period as well as the former Soviet Union and East Germany during the Cold War. Click for larger view View full resolution In late July 2018, I conducted a phone interview with Jena Woodbury, Ririe-Woodbury's Executive Director, to discuss the Company's experience as part of the DanceMotion USA tour [End Page 6] that had concluded two months prior. When the Company received notification of their selection, the United States of America was at a dramatic political turning point, shifting from the Obama to the Trump administration. Later, while the company traveled throughout Mongolia and South Korea, President Trump and North Korean president Kim Jong-un engaged in heated negotiations leading up to a summit in June 2018. Despite occurring within a volatile political time, my conversation with Jena provoked hope that dance may continue to receive support as part of diplomatic efforts. A DanceMotion USA announcement notes that the program has "engaged with more than 114,000 participants in 55 countries and has reached more than 40 million people online." These impressive figures, however, do not speak to the depth of the program's impact upon both the dance company and the communities with which they have connected. Excerpts of my conversation with Jena Woodbury offer concrete examples of their work's impact and possible directions for the future: Jillian Harris: Did you feel that there were any unexpected surprises during the tour or were you adequately prepared? Jena Woodbury: I feel that we were adequately prepared, but there were certainly some classes that were more challenging than others simply because of the nature of groups themselves. For example, we had a class in Korea that was for juvenile delinquent boys. The dancers did a beautiful job teaching that class, but that's a hard population to teach even under the best circumstances when you speak the same language. We also taught classes to North Korean children living in a North Korea defectors facility. The Company dancers split into teams of two, each working with a different age group. After the classes, the resident dance teacher commented that she had a really difficult time getting these kids to interact with each other. Our dancers taught the classes in such a way that the kids didn't even know that they were starting to interact with one another. They were thinking about the movement sequence, which naturally developed into a community effort. For example, with a...

North Korean children: nutrition and growth.

North Korea suffered from severe famine in the mid-1990s; this impacted many areas, including people's transnational movement, child growth, and mortality. This review carefully examined nutritional status trends of children in North Korea using published reports from national nutrition assessment surveys. Nutritional adaptation of North Korean child refugees living in South Korea was also studied with their growth and food consumption, using published researches. The nutritional status of children in North Korea has recovered to a “low” level acute malnutrition status and a "medium" level chronic malnutrition status. Large disparities by geographic region still remain. North Korean child refugees in South Korea were significantly shorter and lighter than their age- and sex-matched South Korean counterparts (P<0.05); however, North Korean child refugees were catching up, and weight was improving faster than height. Linear growth retarded (height for age Z-score < -1) North Korean children showed a significantly higher respiratory quotient than nonlinear growth retarded children, indicating metabolic adaptation responding to the food shortage. These changes, accompanied by abundant access to food in South Korea, have led to the elimination of significant differences in the obesity ratio between North Korean and South Korean children living in South Korea after approximately 2 years of residency. This nutritional adaptation may not be beneficial to North Korean child refugees, especially given the prediction of Barker’s theory. The lack of studies prevented a better understanding of this issue; therefore, large cohort studies, preferably with random sampling strategies, are needed to further understand this issue and to design appropriate interventions.

Effect of Oral Health Education on Oral Health Knowledge, Oral Health Behavior and Oral Hygiene Status in Children from North Korea

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of oral health education on oral health knowledge, oral health behavior, and oral hygiene status of children from North Korea. Methods Participants were 32 North Korean children defectors (15 in the education group, 17 in the control group). The oral health education program, including theoretical training and toothbrush training, was done once a week for 4 weeks. Effects of the education program were assessed for oral health knowledge, oral health behavior, and oral hygiene status at pretest, 0, and 4 weeks after the intervention. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANCOVA with the SAS program. Results Children in the education group showed increased oral health knowledge and behavior over time compared to the control group and an improvement in oral hygiene status including significantly decreased S-PHP and Snyder test for oral micro-organism. Conclusion Results indicate that oral health education is effective in improving oral health knowledge, oral health behavior and oral hygiene status. These improvements could lead to a better quality of life for North Korean children defectors. Key words: 구강건강교육; 구강건강지식; 구강건강행위; 구강위생상태; 북한이탈아동 Key words: Health education; Knowledge; Health behavior; Oral hygiene; Child (North Korean defector)

Growth retardation at early life and metabolic adaptation among North Korean children.

The high prevalence of obesity is a major public health issue and contributes to the 'double burden' of disease in developing countries. Early exposure to poor nutrition may cause metabolic adaptations that, when accompanied by exposure to 'affluent' nutrition, may increase the risk for obesity and other metabolic disorders. The aim of this study was to determine differences in energy metabolism and nutritional status between normal-height and growth-retarded North Korean children living in South Korea. A total of 29 children were recruited and underwent measurements of resting energy expenditure (REE), respiratory quotient (RQ), anthropometrics and dietary intake. There was no difference in REE or any assessment of obesity between the growth-retarded and normal-height children. Children who were classified as growth retarded (HAZ<-1.0) or stunted (HAZ<-2.0) had a significantly higher RQ (β=0.036 or 0.060, respectively, P=0.018 or 0.016), independent of sex, age, fat-free mass, fat mass and food quotient, compared with children with normal height. The results from this study, the first from an Asian population, add to the growing body of literature suggesting that undernutrition early in life results in adaptations in energy metabolism that favor fat deposition, increasing the risk of stunted children becoming overweight or obese later in life. Continued research on this topic is warranted, given the continued rise in the prevalence of the double burden in transitional countries.

Changes and Continuance of South and North Korean Children’s Folk Plays

Changes and Continuance of South and North Korean Children’s Folk Plays

Let's Go to the Moon: Science Fiction in the North Korean Children's MagazineAdong Munhak, 1956–1965

Science fiction narratives appeared in the North Korean children's magazineAdong munhakbetween 1956 and 1965, and they bear witness to the significant Soviet influence in this formative period of the DPRK. Moving beyond questions of authenticity and imitation, however, this article locates the science fiction narrative within North Korean discourses on children's literature preoccupied with the role of fiction as both a reflection of the real and a projection of the imminent, utopian future. Through a close reading of science fiction narratives from this period, this article underscores the way in which science, technology, and the environment are implicated in North Korean political discourses of development, and points to the way in which these works resolve the inherent tension between the desirable and seemingly contradictory qualities of the ideal scientist—obedient servant of the collective and indefatigable questioner—to establish the child-scientist as the new protagonist of the DPRK.

From Pre- to Post-Famine: Trends in Underweight Among North Korean Children, 1987-2012

IntroductionTo let all people eat rice with meat soup, as a common propaganda slogan has it, has been an objective of the leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), also known as North Korea.1 Yet contrary to official proclamation, nutritional stress has lingered in North Korea ever since its foundation in 1948, which was brought about by the emerging Cold War (1945-1991). As a manifestation of food calamities, mean final height of North Korean men, taken as a proxy for nutritional and epidemiological stress in early life,2 merely stagnated for all decades of the Cold War.3,4 In stark contrast, contemporary South Korean men are by now the tallest in all of East Asia because of healthy and wealthy living conditions in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula.5Worst of all, by the 1990s, North Korea experienced a great famine.6,7 Massive starvation of North Koreans occurred with the downfall of socialism and the geopolitical disintegration of the Eastern Bloc. Food, fertilizers, and energy could no longer be afforded on the basis of world market prices. Lacking these necessary inputs, North Korea's economy collapsed in the 1990s.8 More important, in the previous Cold War era, the socialist government inefficiently focused on heavy industrialization and symbolic mammoth projects of marginal economic use in addition to overspending up to one-third of its budget on the military.9 This leftNorth Korea without comparative advantages in exports in the post-Cold War era to raise the levels of living and revive its economy.Though macroeconomic shocks and long-term strategic malinvestments are the underlying causes for North Korea's decline after the Cold War, the food crisis of the 1990s itself was triggered by two consecutive floods in 1995 and 1996 that devastated large parts of the country and evolved into a major famine.10 The floods in turn were a result of the El Nino weather anomaly at that time, although deforestation accelerated the crisis. However, by the early 2000s, North Korean living standards improved thanks to international assistance. In the early 1990s, North Korea joined the United Nations, and after the first floods in 1995, it officially appealed for aid. Ever since then, international food aid has been pouring into the DPRK, with peaks from 1997 to 2005 (Figure 1). Another important factor for North Korea's revitalization in the post-Cold War era was liberalization reforms. These were officially introduced in 2002 (July First Reforms) and led to a paradigmatic shift, including marketization and decentralization.11,12,13 Table 1 demonstrates that probably 78 percent of North Koreans were participating in the informal economy by the time they were interviewed from 2004 to 2005.This article investigates the trends in underweight of children in North Korea from 1987 to 2012 to explore how the nutritional status of the North Korean people developed in the critical decade of the 1990s and beyond. First and foremost, the starting point of this study is the year 1987, which is a prefamine period when North Korea was still integrated into the Eastern Bloc. The last year of observation is the post-famine year 2012, which is over a decade after the great famine of the 1990s. Hence, this study offers very rare evidence on the long-term development of North Korean biosocial living standards. Previous statistical analysis on North Korean child malnutrition focused on cross-sectional evidence during the peak of famine14,15 or after the famine16,17 as well as on the regional effects of the food crisis.18,19 What is more, this paper compares underweight rates of children in North Korea to that of their peers in South Korea by drawing on recently released statistics based on a nationally representative anthropometric survey carried out from 2003 to 2004. This is another intriguing comparison because both Koreas share the same genetic and cultural ancestry and were also not affected much by migration over the last centuries. …

Effects of maternal nutritional status and food situation on birth weight in displaced North Korean children

Adequate nutrition and food situation during the pregnancy are important for healthy pregnancy outcomes such as birth weight. The aim of this study was to assess effects of maternal nutritional status (height, pre‐pregnancy weight, pre‐pregnancy BMI, and self‐reported body type) and food situation on birth weight of children born to North Korean parents, and currently living in South Korea. After IRB approval, North Korean children (6–18yr) were recruited through schools and local centers. A pre‐tested questionnaire was used to collect birth weight, nutritional status of mother, and food situation (Household Food Insecurity Access Scale Score) at birth, supplemented by an interview.. Birth weight was positively associated with being male (â=0.435, p‐value=0.001), higher maternal height (â=0.033, p‐value=0.026), secure food situation (â=0.273, p‐value=0.043) and with smaller maternal body type (â=−1.154, p‐value=0.016). Maternal weight and BMI had no statistically significant associations with birth weight, while maternal height was most significant. Maternal chronic nutritional status was more important on birth weight than food situation at birth in our sample. This work was supported by National Research Foundation of Korea Grant.