North Korean Defectors in a New and Competitive Society

Issues and Challenges in Resettlement, Adjustment, and the Learning Process

Ahlam Lee

Ongoing ideological or political conflicts in the modern world have led to appalling human rights violations against North Korean defectors who attempt to escape from their repressive country and seek freedom. Although some North Korean defectors have survived the life-threatening escape journey and arrived in free countries, their overwhelming challenges have not yet ended, as they now face a range of issues and challenges in resettlement, adjustment, and learning process in new and competitive societies. North Korean Defectors in a New and Competitive Society articulates several hurdles that North Korean defectors encounter, from their long journey of escape to assimilation in their new homes. This book seeks to raise international awareness of human rights violations against North Koreans, and to emphasize the importance of helping them overcome the substantial cultural gaps between North Korea and their new homes.

Lexington Books

Pages: 172 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-0-7391-9266-5 • Hardback • December 2015 • $100.00 • (£77.00)

978-1-4985-2972-3 • Paperback • April 2019 • $38.99 • (£30.00)

978-0-7391-9267-2 • eBook • December 2015 • $37.00 • (£28.00)

Subjects: Education / Philosophy, Theory & Social Aspects, Education / General, Social Science / Emigration & Immigration, Social Science / World / Asia

North Korean Defectors in a New and Competitive Society

Issues and Challenges in Resettlement, Adjustment, and the Learning Process

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Ongoing ideological or political conflicts in the modern world have led to appalling human rights violations against North Korean defectors who attempt to escape from their repressive country and seek freedom. Although some North Korean defectors have survived the life-threatening escape journey and arrived in free countries, their overwhelming challenges have not yet ended, as they now face a range of issues and challenges in resettlement, adjustment, and learning process in new and competitive societies. North Korean Defectors in a New and Competitive Society articulates several hurdles that North Korean defectors encounter, from their long journey of escape to assimilation in their new homes. This book seeks to raise international awareness of human rights violations against North Koreans, and to emphasize the importance of helping them overcome the substantial cultural gaps between North Korea and their new homes.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 172 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-0-7391-9266-5 • Hardback • December 2015 • $100.00 • (£77.00)

978-1-4985-2972-3 • Paperback • April 2019 • $38.99 • (£30.00)

978-0-7391-9267-2 • eBook • December 2015 • $37.00 • (£28.00)

Subjects: Education / Philosophy, Theory & Social Aspects, Education / General, Social Science / Emigration & Immigration, Social Science / World / Asia

Author

Ahlam Lee is assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Human Resource Development at Xavier University.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Rationale for Supporting North Korean Defectors
Chapter 2: The Journey of North Korean Defectors from the North to Free Countries
Chapter 3: The Issues and Problems Defectors Face in a New Society
Chapter 4: South Korea Government Support for North Korean Defectors
Chapter 5: North Korean Defectors Who Sought Asylum and Resettled in Other Countries Beyond South Korea
Chapter 6: Implications for Practice and Future Research
Chapter 7: Conclusion

Reviews

This book is a wonderful addition to the growing field of North Korean studies.... Lee...has prepared a brilliant book.
— Acta Asiatica Varsoviensia

This book is a valuable addition to the growing field of North Korean studies. This multi-layered study of the plight of North Korean refugees—victims of political repression, economic deprivation, and ideological indoctrination—sheds a new light on the "re-traumatization" that many North Korean settlers face in the immeasurably richer and freer South Korea, where they are victimized by socio-economic barriers and general apathy. Lee's book is an eloquent appeal to the human heart in its capacity for abstract sympathy.
— Sung-Yoon Lee, The Fletcher School, Tufts University