Disintegration and Reconstruction of North Korean Defector Families (in Korean)
Seoul National University New Unification Studies – 5
Authors: Lee Soon-hyung, Kim Chang-dae, Jin Mi-jeong, Seoul National University Publishing and Cultural Center
Book Introduction
The book was published as the fifth volume of the Seoul National University’s “Journal of New Unification Studies”. The project contains creative alternatives and policies for unification, efforts to understand the process of North Korean defectors’ defections, and analysis of North Korean defectors’ adaptation to South Korean society from the perspective of the defectors themselves.
What pain did their families suffer in defecting? What courage and support did they give and receive? How did the defectors react to recovering their families and accepting new forms of ‘family’? In response to these questions, this book aims to understand the experiences in family relationships and problems of North Korean defectors through their own eyes. Interviews with North Korean defectors here clearly show the feelings of loss and pain they suffered in the process of dismantling and reconstructing their families.
First of all, the authors looked at North Korea’s traditional family system and how the family has changed in times of social change such as the food crisis, the 7.1 economic management improvement measures and mass defection. In particular, they wanted to focus on the process of defection to North Korea to see how the experience of North Korean defectors affected family life, family structure, and family relations.
Sections 2 and 3 looked how the dismantling and reconstruction of North Korean defector families occur, and examines the factors that cause or hinder the dismantling and reconstruction of their families.
Chapter 4 examines the psychological and social characteristics and problems that may arise from the dismantling and reconstruction of North Korean defectors’ families. It examines these issues based on the contents and examples revealed through the interview survey of North Korean defectors. Chapter 5 proposes countermeasures.
In the process of dismantling and reconstructing North Korean defectors’ families, the authors take a closer and more detailed look at the families of North Korean defectors, their psychological problems and their social problems. This book focuses on the changes in perceptions of family, the weakening of family identity, psychological wounds, children left or abandoned, and erosion of social capital.
About the Authors
Kim Chang Dae : Professor of Education at the Seoul National University College of Education
Lee Soon Hyung : Professor of Consumer and Child Studies at the Seoul National University College of Human Ecology
Chin Mi-Jeong : Professor of Consumer and Child Studies at the Seoul National University College of Human Ecology
