A Phenomenological Study on the Thinking Changes Experienced by North Korean Youth Refugees during the Adjustment to South Korean Society

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-75
Author(s):  
Ae-ree Chung ◽  
◽  
Soon-hwa Yoo
Keyword(s):  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Korean Society ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Korean Youth

Rising Youth Suicide and the Changing Cultural Context in South Korea

Crisis ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. C. Ben Park ◽  
Jeong Soo Im ◽  
Kathryn Strother Ratcliff
Keyword(s):  
Suicidal Behavior ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Family Relations ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Korean Society ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Korean Youth ◽  
Social And Cultural Factors

Background: South Korean society faces a serious challenge in the increasing rates of youth suicidal behavior. There is a need both to gain a better understanding of the causes of this behavior and to develop strategies for responding to this critical public health issue. Aims: This article analyzes how psychological, sociopsychological, and subcultural factors influence suicidal proneness among Korean youth as well as makes suggestions for developing social policies that could reduce Korean youth suicidal behaviors. Method: Correlation and multivariate regression analyses on suicide proneness and depression were employed using a sample of 172 South Korean youths (aged 18–24) selected from the 2009 General Social Survey collected through face-to-face interviews. Results: Young people’s suicidal proneness is associated with depression, a tolerant attitude toward suicide, strained family relations, living in rural areas, being female, and being closely related to survivors of suicide or potential suicides. Conclusion: The findings from this study reveal the significance of social and cultural factors as influences on recent youth suicidal behavior in Korea. The analysis suggests that the underlying risk factors of suicidal behavior are embedded in the changing social and cultural context of Korean society. Thus, suicide prevention efforts should involve more than merely treating any underlying psychiatric disorders.

Between Institutional Exclusion and Inclusion: Comparing Old and New Chinese Immigrants in South Korea (制度的排斥與包容：在韓國的舊華僑和新華僑之比較)

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Seungeun Lee (李承恩)
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Chinese Immigrants ◽  
Korean Society ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
Korean Immigration ◽  
The Rise Of China ◽  
Asian Migration

This article explores three Chinese immigrant groups in South Korea. South Korean society characterizes itself with a long-held traditional myth of being a homogenous society. Two waves of migrants from China, however, challenged this myth. The earlier wave took place in the late 19thcentury. The recent, new, wave of Chinese migration took place in the last three decades and coincidently right before and after the normalization of relations between the People’s Republic of China (prc) and South Korea in 1992. Due to the rise of China and the changing dynamics of inter-Asian migration, new migrants from theprcsince the 1990s have changed the demographic composition of foreign citizens in Korea.These new migrants from theprcare mostly ethnic Han (prcChinese), but some are ethnic Korean (Korean Chinese) who holdprccitizenship. Most previous studies have focused on either old (earlier) Chinese immigrants or new (later) Chinese immigrants separately. This paper, in contrast, comparatively investigates these groups utilizing statistics and secondhand source data. This study contends that the mechanisms of institutional exclusion and inclusion in Korean immigration policies, put forward by the policies’ citizenship, legal and economic aspects, produce both new multiculturalism and ethnonationalism. This paper also contends that mechanisms of institutional exclusion and inclusion are a result of the interplay between citizenship and ethnicity.本文對韓國華僑（“舊華僑”）、持中國國籍的中國大陸漢族和朝鮮族（“新華僑”）進行比較。長久以來，在韓國社會裡“單一民族”一直是一個很普遍的傳統現象。但兩波從中國到韓國的華人華僑移民潮卻反駁此現象。早期的移民潮發生在十九世紀末，在此期間移居到韓國的華人一般稱之為韓國華僑（簡稱為“韓華”）。最近這一波新移民潮則是發生在最近30多年，恰好是在發生在中華人民共和國和韓國建交的一九九二年前後。從一九九零年代開始，因中國崛起和亞洲移民的動態變化帶動的中國“新”移民到了韓國，也改變了在韓國社會裡外國剬民的國籍與種族結構。這些來自中國的新移民大部分都是漢族（簡稱為“漢族”），有些則是朝鮮族，這兩個不同的民族都持有中華人民共和國的國籍。已經有許多研究關注移居韓國的華人，但比較不同時代移居至韓國的華人的討論卻非常少見。這個研究便以統計和二手資料為主，特別針對這些在不同時期來到韓國的華人進行比較。本論文分析了在韓國移民政策裡頭制度排斥和包容的機制，筆者分析了這些政策裡的剬民權、法律和經濟等不同層面，發現韓國的一系列移民政策造成了新的多文化主義和民族國家主義。此外，本研究也發現產生制度排斥和包容機制是剬民權和種族性之間的相互作用的結果。 (This article is in English).

scholarly journals North Koreans’ Public Narratives and Conditional Inclusion in South Korea (In Press)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Hough ◽  
Markus Bell
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Korean Society ◽  
The Public ◽  
South Korean ◽  
The North ◽  
North And South

This article draws on the public testimonies of North Koreans living in South Korea (t’albungmin) and analyzes the role that these narratives play in South Korean society as mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion. North and South Korea technically remain at war, with South Korea claiming sovereignty over the entire Korean peninsula. While t’albungmin are eligible for South Korean citizenship, they describe feeling excluded from full social membership. Although some t’albungmin seek anonymity, this paper considers those who gain social status by speaking publicly about their lives and denouncing the North Korean regime. In so doing, they distance themselves from North Korea and align themselves with the “good” discourse of human rights. However, their actions reinforce a logic of exclusion, implying that t’albungmin who prefer anonymity are “sympathizers,” and consequently restricting their access to social benefits and resources. This case of conditional inclusion illuminates tensions that arise when a sovereignty claim entails the incorporation of people from an enemy state. It also highlights the carefully delineated boundaries of publicly acceptable behavior within which “suspect” citizens must remain as a condition for positive recognition.

Bitter Taste of Paradise: North Korean Refugees in South Korea

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrei Lankov
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Social Adjustment ◽  
Bitter Taste ◽  
Korean Society ◽  
South Korean ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North ◽  
North Korean Refugees ◽  
North Korean Defectors ◽  
To Come

This article deals with the problems of North Korean defectors currently living in South Korea. In the past, most such defectors came from privileged groups in the North Korean population, and their adjustment to the new environment did not pose a significant problem. However, from the mid-1990s, defectors began to come from the far less privileged groups. They experience serious problems related to jobs, education, crime, and social adjustment. Recent years have seen a dramatic but not always openly stated change in the official South Korean attitude toward defectors: from a policy explicitly aimed at encouraging defection, Seoul has moved to the policy of quietly discouraging it. There are fears that encouraging defection will undermine the policy of peaceful engagement with the North. There is also the perception that refugees are outsiders, not quite adjustable to the conditions of South Korean society and thus a social and budgetary burden.

Being Othered, Embracing Others

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-143
Author(s):  
Hanna Kang
Keyword(s):  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
Korean Society ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Intercultural Theology ◽  
Alternative Understanding

Abstract This essay spotlights the experiences of otherness and marginalization of ethnic roots migrants in today’s South Korean society. It argues that their sense of liminality and rejection by both societies (diasporic and ethnic home), when examined through the concept of mestizaje, reflects their unique capacity to be bridge builders between the dominant majority and the excluded minority, including themselves. Also, using intercultural theology as a frame of theological reference to interpret the presence of roots migrants as both insiders and outsiders, the essay unmasks the overall fear of otherness and pride in homogeneity in Korean society that seldom problematizes the alienation of those labelled as the “others.” Finally, it discusses the importance of a genuine theological interpretation concerning the issue, so that it can construct spaces for an alternative understanding of identity and otherness that does not lead to exclusion but to embrace.

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