North Korean Youth Research Articles

주인-노예 변증법의 인간중심주의적 변용 : 이기영의 『붉은 수첩』에 표상된 북한 천리마 시대의 청년 주체

이 논문은 북한의 지하리-평산 간 철도(청년이천선의 1차 완성 구 간)의 부설(1959)과 관련된 북한의 선전물, 특히 이 노선의 건설을 소재로 한 이기영의 소설 『붉은 수첩』(1961)을 분석하여 천리마운동 시기 북한에서 주인-노예 변증법이 어떻게 변용되었는가를 규명한다. 헤겔의 주인-노예 변증법은 계급투쟁과 민족해방전쟁의 주요한 서 사였다. 이 주인-노예 변증법은 프롤레타리아나 농민, 혹은 피압박 민족이 노예와도 같은 속박과 압제에서 벗어나 자신들이 주인 되는 체제를 건설한다는 내용으로 독해되었다. 하지만 북한을 비롯한 사회주 의국가들의 경우, 혁명과 전쟁이 종료되고 사회주의 체제가 수립되었을 때, 이 주인-노예 변증법은 비유적으로 독해되기도 했다. 이 비유적 독해에는 두 가지 형태가 있다. 노동자가 자기 안의 노예 상태를 극복하 고 할당된 작업량을 초과 달성한다는 개체발생적(ontogenetic) 독해 가 한 형태이고, 자연과의 관계에서 노예와도 같았던 인간이 자연개조에 성공한다는 인간중심주의적(anthropocentric) 독해가 또 다른 형태 이다. 이 연구는 이 주인-노예 변증법의 두 가지 비유적 독해방식 중 특히 후자에 주목한다. 다시 말해, 이 글은 북한 천리마 시대 청년 주체가 어떻게 주인-노예 변증법의 인간중심주의적 변용을 통해 탄생할 수 있었는지를 이기영의 『붉은 수첩』등 문학작품과 『로동신문』, 『민주조선』등에 보도된 기사 등을 분석해 밝혀내고자 한다.

‘It’s all about self-reliance’: North Korean Adolescents’ Menstruation Experiences and Management

In low-income countries such as North Korea, adolescents experience a decreased quality of schooling and health as a result of poor menstrual health management. The purpose of this study was to explore menstrual health management among North Korean adolescents through interviews with North Korean defector women who have settled in South Korea. Semi-structured interviews with seven participants were conducted from November 2021 to January 2022. The findings showed that North Korean adolescents lacked knowledge of menarche and that menstruation was merely perceived to be a bodily excretion. Moreover, North Korean adolescents received little or no support from their families or society during menstruation. The bodies of male and female students were not differentiated, resulting in female adolescents becoming desensitised to the physical and mental pain of menstruation. Furthermore, the participants recalled resorting to suboptimal alternatives to hygiene products and inappropriate menstrual practices. The findings suggest that it may take a long time to address menstrual poverty among North Korean adolescents and that measures to strengthen human rights for North Korean adolescents’ health should be prepared at an international level. Improved education for North Korean youth and active support from parents and teachers regarding menstrual practices are also necessary.

Exploring the Narratives of Cooperative Learning Experiences of Teachers in an Alternative School for North Korean Youth Defectors

본 연구는 탈북청소년 대안학교 교사의 협력적 학습경험의 양태를 분석하고 협력적 학습경험이 탈북청소년 대안학교 교사의 삶에 어떠한 영향을 끼치는지 그 의미를 해석하였다. 본 연구는 내러티브 탐구 연구방법론을 사용하였으며, 자료 분석과 해석은 Creswell(2015)이 제시한 절차를 따랐다. 탈북청소년 대안학교 교사들의 협력적 학습경험은 협력적 탐구 패러다임(cooperative inquiry paradigm)에 근거하여 분석하였다. 연구결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 탈북청소년 대안학교 교사들은 동일한 목표의식과 사명감을 가지고 ‘교사 공동체’를 이루었다. 둘째, 탈북청소년 대안학교 교사들은 이타적인 마음과 공동체의식으로 자신이 가지고 있는 업무처리능력, 학생지도의 노하우, 교과목 지도방법을 공유하였다. 셋째, 탈북청소년 대안학교 교사들의 협력적 학습경험은 학교 안과 밖, 온라인상에서도 지속적으로 연결 및 확장된 모습으로 나타났다. 이를 통해 교사에게 필요한 업무를 신속하게 공유하고 즉각적으로 실천할 수 있었다.

Community-based art therapy for the coexistence of South Korean Youth and North Korean youth defectors: A phenomenological study

The existentialist philosopher Martin Buber argued that I, Thou, and We connect organically through dialogue and that coexistence is necessary for an authentic existence. However, coexisting with others entails challenges, especially when there are tremendous cultural differences, as with South Korean youth and North Korean youth defectors. Therefore, this phenomenological study investigates how the two groups of adolescents—two South Korean teenagers and six young North Korean defectors—from conflicting cultural backgrounds learned to coexist through a community-based art therapy project. Together, they completed a symbolic collaborative artwork called The Village-Making Project in a semester-long afterschool program. As a result, the participants’ lived experiences were categorized into three themes and seven subthemes to show related phenomena: (a) looking at the familiar self from a new perspective, (b) understanding others by defining myself, and (c) developing We through coordination and reconciliation. The researchers discuss the meaning of community from an existential standpoint and the therapeutic role of the arts in helping community members coexist.

Organizational empowerment: a study of community-based welfare organizations for North Korean youth refugees in South Korea

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which the welfare organizations that serve North Korean youth refugees utilized an approach that incorporates principles and methods of organizational empowerment. Utilizing the empowerment approach as the major theoretical framework, this study conducted a multiple case study. Three community-based welfare organizations in South Korea were selected for the study. This study highlights both external and internal contexts. External contexts include: the past history of organizations, community context, and the resource level. Internal contexts include workers’ participation in decision-making, shared power, culturally competent practice, and leaders’ orientation. The findings of this study identified leaders’ orientation and external funding mechanism as the most important factors for organizational empowerment. The findings provide implications for social work practice and research on the importance of (1) empowering leadership as the key factor for organizational empowerment and (2) the vital role of community-based welfare organizations to represent the diverse needs of North Korean refugee communities.

Keyword network analysis of North Korean youth adaptation papers

Keyword network analysis of North Korean youth adaptation papers

The Soldiers of Songbun: Militarization, Human Rights Abuse and Childhood Experiences of North Korean Youth

North Korea is an enigma. The United Nations (UN) states that it is “…without parallel in the contemporary world …” in terms of abuse, exploitation and lack of civil rights. No other rogue state commands the attention and mystique as the isolated nation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Despite an increasingly prevalent international front, including warming relations with South Korea and the threat of nuclear weapons, everyday citizens remain hidden. Public displays of Olympic cheerleaders or the admittance of “K-Pop” stars across the Korean Demilitarization Zone (DMZ) distract from the widespread human rights abuses and public indoctrination that is second nature in the country. But this is no surprise; In the DPRK, the leader is above all else. While marginalized groups in other countries may be granted a voice by international organizations, the vulnerable in North Korea are obscured in the shadow of the great leader’s actions.

A Theoretical Understanding of the Vulnerabilities of the North Korean Youth Born in the Arduous March to Substance Use Disorders in Attachment Theory : Social-Psycho-Neurophysiological Perspectives

북한에서 마약류의 사용은 더 이상 간과할 수 없는 심각한 문제로 대두되고 있다. 본 연구의 목적은 애착이론을 통해 북한청년의 물질사용장에 취약 가능성에 대해 사회, 심리, 신경 생리적 관점을 통해 이론적으로 고찰하고, 이에 대한 문제의식을 고취하고자 한다. 먼저, 사회적 관점에서 북한 청년의 불안정 애착을 유발시킬 수 있었던 고난의 행군시기의 사회적 상황과 북한의 마약류 사용 실태에 대해 제시했다. 심리적 관점에서는 북한청년의 초기 외상적 경험과 불안정 애착이 어떻게 물질사용장애의 발현에 취약요인이 되는가에 대해 애착이론의 관점에서 고찰하였다. 또한 신경 생리적 관점에서는 물질사용장애의 신경생리적 메커니즘과 애착에 의한 유아 초기 뇌 발달영역에서 공통적으로 나타나는 뇌의 해부학적 유사성과 해당 영역의 기능을 살펴보면서, 북한청년 물질사용장애 취약성의 대해 고찰했다. 끝으로 이 연구를 통해 향후 북한청년과 물질사용장애에 관한 향후 연구 방향과 기독 상담적 접근방안과 교회의 역할에 대해 제안했다.

제 3국 출생 북한이탈청소년의 가족경험 변화에 관한 질적 사례연구

본 연구의 목적은 제 3국 출생 북한이탈청소년들의 이주 과정에서의 가족경험 변화와 의미에 대하여 탐색하는 것이다. 연구 질문은 다음과 같다. 첫째, 제 3국 출생 북한이탈청소년은 이주과정에서 가족의 변화를 어떻게 경험하는가? 둘째, 제 3국 출생 북한이탈청소년의 이주 과정에서의 가족관계 변화로 인한 어려움을 어떠한 전략으로 극복하고 있는가? 셋째, 제 3국 출생 북한이탈청소년의 이주과정과 가족관계 경험은 이들에게 어떤 의미가 있는가? 연구는 질적 사례연구 방법에 따라 수행되었다. 질적 사례연구 방법에 따라 사례 내 분석과 사례 간 분석을 수행하였고, 드러난 범주들을 이주 공간과 축에 따라 정렬하였다. 그 결과, ‘미운오리새끼처럼 돌봄 없이 소외되다’, ‘변화를 위해 도전하다’, ‘설렘과 혼란 속에서 고군분투’, ‘진짜 집을 열망하다’, ‘도움닫기를 하며 돌진하다’, ‘나를 알고 세상을 향해 비상하다’의 6가지의 주제가 도출되었다. 연구 결과, 제 3국 출생 북한이탈청소년의 이주 경험의 의미는 가족이라는 해결하기 어려운 문제에 대해 이를 도전하고 수용하면서 나름대로의 전략을 발견하고 자신을 알아간 것에 있다는 점을 밝혀내었다. 기존의 연구가 제 3국 출생 북한이탈청소년들의 문화적 배경과 언어가 남한사회와 다르다는 측면에 주로 집중하여 문화적응에 관한 문제를 다룬 것과는 달리, 이주 가족의 일원으로서 가족의 분리를 겪으며 발생한 가족 관계에서의 어려움과 대응전략을 살펴보았다는 점에 본 연구의 의의가 있다. 연구의 말미에서는 연구결과를 통해 나타난 논의를 종합하고 이에 대한 제언을 하였다. 이를 요약하면 첫째, 제 3국 출생 북한이탈청소년의 가족상황과 이주 배경을 고려한 지원 체계 마련과 이를 위한 논의가 필요하다. 둘째, 제 3국 출생 북한이탈청소년이 경험하는 이주 후 가족관계에서의 어려움을 해소하기 위해서는 북한이탈여성의 일과 가정의 양립을 위한 지원과 정책논의가 필요하다. 셋째, 제 3국 출생 북한이탈청소년들을 포함한 탈북배경 청소년들의 실태조사 및 양적데이터 마련이 시급하며 이는 이들에 대한 지원체계를 확립하는 것에 활용되도록 하여야 한다.

탈북청소년을 위한 교육지원 변화 분석

탈북청소년을 위한 교육지원 변화 분석

탈북학생 문화예술 교육 실태 및 개선 방안 고찰 - 교육부 탈북학생 교육 우수사례를 중심으로

탈북학생 문화예술 교육 실태 및 개선 방안 고찰 - 교육부 탈북학생 교육 우수사례를 중심으로

A model of identity development: Life-course narratives of North Korean youth resettling in South Korea

IntroductionIdentity development is a convoluted process for youth experiencing traumatic interruptions in their lives. This study aimed to build a model of identity development in an understudied cultural group of trauma-exposed youth who fled North Korea and resettled in South Korea. MethodsSixteen participants (75% female, Mage = 26.63 years, Mdefection age = 16.29 years, Mdefection duration = 5.72 years) produced life-course narratives, as guided by the life-lines they drew to depict their high and low points and future trajectories. The cross-sectional qualitative data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Themes of identity, trauma, and turning points were derived and coded, and then organized sequentially to classify stages of identity development. ResultsThe Vulnerable stage defined a sense of helplessness during an early life of deprivation in North Korea. Their identity entered the Invisible stage during their hiding in China. Upon reaching South Korea, they traversed four stages: The Renewal stage signaling a fresh outset; the Turmoil stage characterized by acculturative stress, rejection, and family disruption; the Achieved stage of relative stability; and the Self-Transcendence stage in which youth extended beyond their immediate views of self and focused on meaning and purpose across the themes of social change, reconciliation, and spirituality. DiscussionThe six-stage model of identity development demonstrates that North Korean youth who defect to South Korea undergo a multifaceted identity development process as they navigate adversities, interruptions, and turning points. Results suggest that traumatic experiences can spur positive identity development and provide implications for professionals working with youth affected by intense and prolonged social conflict.

Discursive strategies of othering: North Korean youth on a South Korean television show

Abstract As the number of South Koreans, especially those in their 20s and 30s, in favor of unification with North Korea decreases, it is not surprising that younger generations feel a lack of closeness or familiarity with North Korean refugees in South Korea. Targeting South Korean adolescents’ ambivalence toward unification and North Korean refugees is a talk show called Great Friends. Moderated by a South Korean host, Great Friends presents the experiences of a group of North Korean and South Korean youth. Given the current social climate surrounding North Korean refugees in South Korea, this study investigates how North Korean youth on this program are discursively constructed over the course of 17 episodes aired in 2015. Considering the unequal power relations between the host country and refugees, this study applies critical discourse analysis (CDA) to interpret how North Korean adolescents are presented to a South Korean audience. The analysis reveals the ‘othering’ of North Koreans through discourses of difference. Despite presenting North Koreans as friends to South Koreans, these discursive constructions create a dichotomy by positioning North Koreans as inferior to their southern counterparts. The findings contribute to rethinking how authorities promote the integration of North Koreans in South Korea.

Becoming Me in Third Space: Media Education for North Korean Refugee Youths in South Korea

AbstractIn this study, the authors explored curricular practices of media education for North Korean refugee youths resettled in South Korea, and investigated the impacts of the media education program on their identity construction. Guided by third space theory and framed within a qualitative research paradigm, this media education program was developed by a group of North and South Korean teaching artists. Multimodal data collected throughout the first year were analyzed thematically with a focus on the discursive construction of identities of North Korean youth participants. The participants were invited to reconsider their identities and address multiple dimensions of lived challenges in a safe media education space.

English Language Learning for North Korean Youth Students Supported by ICT-based Multimodal Videoconferencing

English Language Learning for North Korean Youth Students Supported by ICT-based Multimodal Videoconferencing

The Development of the Peer Counseling Program for North Korean Youth

The Development of the Peer Counseling Program for North Korean Youth

남한에서 대학을 졸업한 탈북 청년의 취업 성공요인에 대한 사례연구

본 연구는 남한에서 대학을 졸업하고 취업에 성공한 탈북 청년들의 취업 경험을 질적으로 분석하여 이들이 남한 사회에 존재하는 다양한 취업 장벽들을 뛰어넘고 성공적으로 취업할 수 있었던 요인을 도출하였다. 연구의 참여자는 남한에서 대학을 졸업하고 자신의 전공 분야로의 취업에 성공한 탈북 청년 4명이며, 연구 참여자들의 취업 관련 경험을 심층적으로 분석하여 공통적으로 성공할 수 있었던 요인을 도출한 결과 7가지의 핵심적 성공요인이 확인되었다. 이들이 취업에 성공할 수 있었던 요인은 ‘최소한의 요건으로서의 공인영어성적표의 활용’, ‘탈북대학생을 대상으로 하는 다양한 프로그램의 활용’, ‘부족한 인적자본 및 문화자본 형성의 장으로서의 대학 경험’, ‘변칙적 배려에 의존하지 않는 적극적 태도’, ‘북한이탈주민으로서의 역경 극복을 강점으로 승화’, ‘생존을 위한 과정에서 획득된 중국어 의사소통 능력’, ‘북한이탈주민이기에 가능한 취업기관 공략’이었다. 도출된 7가지 요인의 의미를 논의하였고 이러한 결과를 통해 이들의 진로와 취업역량 강화를 위한 교육 및 정책적 시사점을 제시하였다.

Growing Together

‘Education’ has a twofold effect on learners, depending on the intention of the teachers. On the one hand, education isolates individual thoughts and limits a person’s process of imagination. Therefore, people who provide education (that is, the dominator) could easily deal with learners as they intend. On the other hand, education can also give liberty to the oppressed. North Korean life is dominated by the Kim family's ideology; people there have a distorted view of art, which makes them praise the North Korean system and intensify the ideology. However, after entering South Korea, defectors experience art differently. Their art education seems like an art therapy, which removes their previous knowledge of art. During the period of art re-education, they could overcome their trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) more easily. Due to artistic activity, they could overcome their previous knowledge of art and try to express their freedom. In this study, I explore the positive effects of art education and introduce an example of emancipatory art education through the alternative school of North Korean youth defectors and their theatre group in South Korea.

Influence of Cultural Distance on the Effect of Art Education - Focusing on Culture Shock of North Korean Youth Refugee -

Influence of Cultural Distance on the Effect of Art Education - Focusing on Culture Shock of North Korean Youth Refugee -

A Mediation Effect of Ego Resiliency Between Stresses and Mental Health of North Korean Refugee Youth in South Korea

An influx of North Korean refugees entering into South Korea has been growing steadily and children and adolescents now make up 12 % of the total North Korean refugees in South Korea. Research indicates that North Korean youth are at high risk of mental health problems as they deal with multiple challenges from both their unique life experiences and the developmental tasks. While mental health research documents a greater need of North Korean youth and focuses on mental disorders and maladaptive functioning, resilience concept suggests research opportunities to develop interventions that promote the well-being of this disadvantaged group. Therefore, the current study investigates mechanisms underlying adversities–adjustment response processes and the mediator role of ego resiliency between adversities and mental health. 144 North Korean refugee youths completed self-administered survey. Structural equation model was used to investigate the causal relationship between trauma exposure and acculturation stress as stressor variables and mental health as outcome variable and ego resiliency as mediator variable. The proposed path model showed an adequate fit and substantiated that two stressor variables have deleterious effects on mental health and ego resiliency is proven to be a partial mediator between acculturation stress and mental health outcome, but not between trauma exposure and mental health outcome. Clinical and policy implications were discussed.