Trauma History and Mental Health of North Korean Defectors

Abstract

Purpose of Review This study aimed to review the mental health status of North Korean defectors (NKDs) and related factors. Interventions to promote their mental health and issues to be dealt with are also reviewed. Recent Findings NKDs are often exposed to multiple severely traumatic events, both in North Korea and surrounding their defection. Furthermore, they face sociocultural barriers in adapting to a new society. Past exposure to traumatic events, longer defection periods, forced repatriation, psychological factors, and acculturative stress such as perceived discrimination, low income, family violence, and health complaints contribute to negative effects on mental health and obstruct their adaptation to life in the Republic of Korea. Summary It is necessary to develop evidence-based programs to promote NKDs’ mental health and help them to adapt to their new society. An NKD cohort study would be helpful to reveal their long-term mental health prognoses and interactions with pre- and post-migration factors.

Perceived social stigma, self‐concealment, and suicide risk among North Korean refugee women exposed to traumatic events

“…Similar to other refugee populations studied, the majority of NK refugee women experienced extreme hunger, untreated serious injury, and forced isolation from their family in North Korea (NHRCK, 2010a). A significant portion of NK refugee women were also tracked by the security police due to their illegal-immigrant status in intermediate countries (NHRCK, 2010b), and were repatriated to North Korea and tortured (Noh & Lee, 2020). Considering that NK refugee women typically had multiple exposure to such traumatic events, it can be presumed that suicide risk may have been particularly salient in the population mainly due to exposure to trauma.…”

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

“…2 Therefore, to reduce their risk of forced repatriation, North Korean refugees in China must conceal their identity, living under the constant fear "not only of being discovered by the Chinese authorities, but by anyone who turns them in as undocumented immigrants for payment of a reward" (Emery et al, 2018;Kim. et al, 2009;Margesson et al, 2007, p. 4;Noh & Lee, 2020). Thus, they are under the constant threat of physical and/or sexual abuse by the Chinese (Kilovaty, 2015).…”

“…During the interrogation process, physical and/or sexual abuse is commonly and systematically used ( Commission of Inquiry, 2014, pp. 211-218;Kilovaty, 2015;Kim et al, 2018;Noh & Lee, 2020). After the trial, convicted refugees are sent to either a labor camp or an ordinary prison (Yun, 2010, pp.…”

The Effect of Traumatic Experiences of North Korean Adolescent Refugees upon Their Negative Health Perception: Focusing on Multiple Moderating Effect of Problem-Focused versus Social Support-Focused Coping Strategies

“…Adolescents outside the protection of schools or facilities may show more serious health problems, so further studies need to be conducted to include them. (2) The sample size (n = 202) of these data is small. Although this sample size is about 10-12% of the total population, more samples are needed to increase the reliability of the results.…”

“…while waiting to enter South Korea are included, the estimated range is from at least 7000 to 20,000, see Figure 1. In South Korean society, their health status is relatively poor, and their awareness of their own health status is also worse than South Korean adolescent, which is strongly related to the traumatic incidents they experienced during the events before and after defection [2][3][4][5][6]. A look into their health status indicates that the height and weight attained by NK refugee adolescents are less than those of South Korean adolescents [7].…”