Violence Against North Korean Refugee Women: Doubly Victimized By Repatriation and Premigration Traumatic Experiences

This study investigates the influence of traumatic events on the mental health of North Korean refugee women by examining the prevalence and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety in comparison with their male counterparts (women = 496; men = 131). Our results suggest that women are at greater risk of developing mental health problems than men. In particular, symptoms of PTSD and anxiety were higher among women who experienced forced repatriation to North Korea, which is operationalized as a constellation of gendered traumatic incidents such as sexual abuse, rape, witnessing infanticides, and forced abortion. The policy implications of our results and suggestions for future studies are discussed.

Speech sound production accuracy produced by North Korean defectors’ adolescent children born in China

Purpose:Children from North Korean defector families possess different characteristics from children with other multicultural and multilingual backgrounds in Korea, partially due to the fact that the number of children born in third countries is higher than those of children born in North Korea. The purpose of the study is to analyze the word-level speech sound productions of adolescent children of North Korean refugee mothers, primarily through a calculation of speech sound accuracy.Methods: The participants consisted of 11 adolescent children whose mothers were North Korean defectors, and whose fathers were Chinese. Participants’ speech sound production skills were assessed using 103 words from the KS-PAPT and U-TAP.Results: Korean defectors’ adolescent children have lower consonant accuracy (PCC= 79.14%) compared to vowel accuracy (PVC=94.71%). The consonant accuracy of liquid/ㄹ/ was significantly lower than those of other manners of articulation. The consonant accuracy of word-final codas was significantly lower than those of other positions in word.Conclusions: This current research has clinical implications for the assessment and analysis of the speech production abilities of the adolescent children of North Korean refugees.

The Influence of Korean University Students’ Contact Experience with North Korean Refugee Students on Social Identity and Integrated Conflicts

This study investigated the influence of South Korean university students’ contact experiences with North Korean refugee university students on social identity and integrated conflicts. The study was conducted with students in years 1–4 of university enrolled in S University in Seoul. Data from 446 participants were gathered. Pearson’s correlation analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between college students’ contact experience with North Korean defector students, with variables of social identity and integrated conflict included. In addition, a t-test was conducted to analyse the differences in social identities and integrated conflicts according to whether or not college students participated in a unification leadership camp and whether or not they attended lectures related to unification. This study found significant correlations between variables such as contact experience, social identity and integrated conflicts. In addition, an increase in experiences between North Korean defectors and South Korean university students had a positive effect on social identity and negatively affected integrative conflict. In addition, there was no difference in social identity and integrated conflicts according to whether or not students participated in the Unification Camp or attended lectures related to unification. The results of this study will contribute to the development of programs and course openings to increase social identity and reduce integrated conflicts by expanding the contact experience between South and North Korean college students. Keywords: Contact experiences, Integrated conflicts, North Korean refugee university students, Social identity.