Republic of Korea UNESCO

Regional Preparatory Workshop on Inclusive Education East Asia

Children of North Korean Refugees The children of North Korean defectors show a serious deficiency in
education due to the usually long period of 'defection process'. A portion of these students are also known
to be suffering from psychological instability due to 'group bullying' at school, or because of difficulties
in adapting to a new society. In an attempt to help the children of North Korean defectors better adjust to
secondary school education in South Korea, the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development
announced a comprehensive support plan on May 2, 2007 that includes measures to introduce an
educational protection officer system, provide free after-school programs, improve the academic
qualification accreditation system, and develop instructional manuals for classroom teachers. The
plan came as an effort to prevent the students from dropping studies due to maladjustment, and help them
pursue normal school education in a new environment.
Currently 1,015 North Korean defector teenagers are studying in 275 schools and educational institutions
across the country in the South. The dropout rate reached 0.8 percent and 1.4 percent among middle
school and high school students, respectively, in 2005. As a countermeasure, the ministry will first
introduce an Education Protection Officer system, and designate teachers who will provide educational
information and counseling for students and undertake responsibility for their protection. In 2007, the
system will be operated in nine regions, starting with areas with a population of more than ten North
Korean youth defectors. For an additional 200 students currently enrolled in schools, the ministry will
provide free tickets to attend after-school programs during the year. Steps will be taken to improve the
accreditation of North Korean students academic attainments, considering the difference of school
systems between the South and the North. For these students, the ministry plans to apply a flexible
accreditation system that takes into consideration various factors including a students schooling years,
academic performance and ability and age. Vocational education and career counseling services will
also be provided so that the students may find suitable employment opportunities upon graduation.
Alongside, recognizing that improving teacher capacity will play a crucial role in the above endeavors,
the ministry will open bid for teacher developed training programs and research projects. Teachers
are to design programs to support defector students, such as mentoring, case studies, education for
parents, evaluation sheets, information exchange systems, etc., and apply for the governments
financial support. Each selected program will be granted 10~30 million Korean won in aid. In addition,
the Hankyoreh Middle and High School will complete construction and open doors in 2007 as a
specialized school exclusively operated for North Korean youth defectors. The school is expected to
function as a stepping-stone for the students, providing certain periods of basic education prior to their
transfer to general schools.

NKnews
This is rather significant community, but it cannot be seen as particularly successful. Indeed, the
adjustment to a new life in the South is not easy for the majority of refugees. It suffices to say that in 2014
the average monthly income of the refugees was an estimated 1.14 million won, almost exactly half the
nationwide average. The refugees unemployment rate is 9.7 percent, which is three times the
nationwide level.

The second difference is the rather poor educational background of the refugees. While the Cold War-era
refugees usually had an education above the average for their countries of origin, the opposite is true for
the North Koreans in the South. Only 7 percent of the refugees at the time of their arrival had collegelevel education, and another 9 percent are graduates of specialized schools, somewhat reminiscent (but
generally inferior) to the junior colleges of South Korea and U.S.
The third difference is that the refugees have rather humble social origins. Only 5 percent of them are
described as specialists/professionals, managers/administrators and workers in the arts while the
rest are either workers, farmers or people with no formal employment back at home. The latter should not
surprise us, since many women were full-time housewives, and many refugees are their children.
Interestingly, some 35 percent of all refugee children below the age of 7 were actually born in China
where their mothers lived for years, often in an unregistered marriage with Chinese males.
The fourth is the refugees place of origin. While the Cold War-era Eastern European refugees
overwhelmingly came from their nations capitals and other major urban centers, the vast majority of the
North Korean refugees originated from areas near the border. An astonishing 63.9 percent of all refugees
come from North Hamgyong province, and another 9.0 percent are natives of South Hamgyong. Merely
1.9 percent lived in Pyongyang prior to their defection. Once again, it is not difficult to explain: It is very
risky to escape if you live in Pyongyang or any other major city, located far from the border.
Last but not least, the refugees unlike their counterparts from the Cold War days are seldom driven by
the political motives. In a 2011 study, 50.7 percent of the refugees said that they fled due to the
economic hardships, while another 17.7 percent said that they wanted to earn higher income, and
14.9 percent wanted to reunite with their families (obviously, those already in South Korea). Only 26.6
percent mentioned a dislike of the North Korean system among the motives of their decision to leave
(multiple answers were allowed). These figures agree quite well with this authors observations and this
is the reason why the North Korean migrants are better-described as refugees, not defectors.
THE PROCESS
So, simplifying things a bit, the average Cold War defector from the Communist Bloc was a young, welleducated, socially ambitious male whose decision to leave was at least partially motivated by his political
views. The average North Korean defector is a middle-aged woman with little formal schooling, little
interest in things political and, most importantly, a dearth of skills which would be useful in the South
Korean society. So, one should not be surprised that they do not fare that well in the South.

Hanawon exists to provide the refugees with basic ideas about life in modern South Korea and teach them
the basic skills which are important for daily life in their new country. The current program lasts for 12
weeks, with classes conducted from 9 am to 5 pm daily. The arrivals are explained the basics of the
Korean history and political structure, taught how to handle banking operations, how to buy tickets in
subway and how to deal with other seemingly mundane tasks of the daily life. There is also a bit of
vocational training provided, but within the available time this training is necessarily of limited quality
and, hence, limited use. As studies testify, vocational training is especially valued, while refugees
often see general education as unnecessary. Tellingly, they almost unanimously agree that the least
interesting of all Hanawon subjects is unification classes where the new arrivals are taught some basic
facts about the authentic North Korean history and politics.

However, these support measures so far have delivered only limited success, as the above-mentioned
income and employment statistics testify. The North Korean refugees tend to work at low-paid unskilled
jobs, they change their place of employment frequently, they are prone to conflicts at work and they
often feel lonely, isolated and depressed. Poor background knowledge means that they seldom can acquire
necessary skills, and thus most of them are relegated to simple menial labor.
In spite of all efforts of the social workers, the refugees are often seen as outcasts or, at least, socially
weak not a good description in status-driven South Korean society. It is telling that many of them and,
especially, their children of school age tend to hide their origins whenever possible.
CHARTER SCHOOLS: Problems with charter schools: Underperformance, far too many are cash cows/
investment opportunities, lack of transparency and accountability (see New Orleans Parish Board): they
are publicly funded but act like private entities, segregation, the skimming/weeding out nature resembles
the nature of North Korean schools, cost/drainage of resources, negative social stigma, diploma not
recognized, charter schools were created to facilitate innovation but thats not happening.
Cons of Korean Alternative Schools:
-Social Stigma
-negative implications for future
- diploma
- adapting to the system
- negative environment (surrounded by other struggling students)
-doesnt breed cooperation and unity, rather, individualism
-not enough studying, interfering with brain development and resulting in students falling behind their
counterparts
-because math/science is too hard, students complain, eventually even believing that such subjects are
unnecessary