Since the mid-1990s North Korea's severe food and economic crisis has led increasing number of North Korean expatriates to flow into South Korea, and the percentage of women, family and school age youths among the expatriates has been on the rise. Sou...
Since the mid-1990s North Korea's severe food and economic crisis has led increasing number of North Korean expatriates to flow into South Korea, and the percentage of women, family and school age youths among the expatriates has been on the rise. South Korean governments, educational institutions and other organizations in private sector have provided North Korean expatriates with a wide range of supports to cope with the changes in quality and quantity of North Korean expatriates. Meanwhile, the necessity to study on North Korean expatriate youths and college students has been raised, and relatively active studies have been performed regarding social, cultural and emotional adjustment and school life of North Korean youth expatriates who are in their primary and high school ages. On the contrary, study efforts have hardly been made with regard to their college life and employment after graduation from high schools despite those efforts are required. In consideration of the necessity aforesaid, this study made an attempt to identify the aspects of adjustment of North Korean expatriate college students on campus by classifying the demographic characteristics into socio-demographic factors, factors related to the course of departing North Korea, academic ability factors and support system factors; and the types of education before admission to colleges were classified into those from individual qualification examination, from alternative schools, from junior/senior high schools in South Korea and enrollees from North Korean colleges. The aspects of adjustment were subdivided into academic, social, emotional adjustments and institutional attachment. Also, the factors influencing North Korean expatriates' adjustment to campus life and the difference in their adjustment on campus were analyzed based on demographic characteristics and the types of education before admission. For the purpose of this study, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 85 North Korean expatriate students who are currently in 23 universities located in Seoul and Kyungin region. Further, open-ended questionnaire survey was carried out with 25 students selected by considering demographic characteristics; and 1:1 in-depth interviews were performed with 8 students chosen considering the types of education before admission. As the measurement tool for quantitative research, Student Adaption to College Questionnaire(SACQ) was used, which was firstly designed by Baker and Siryk in 1984 and later translated by Eun-hee Jeong in 1993; and for qualitative research open-ended and semi-structured questionnaires were used.
Factors affecting North Korean expatriates' adjustment on campus based on the results of this study can be summarized as follows:
First, the higher their economic level, computer proficiency and participation in class and club activities are, the higher the academic adjustment is achieved. Second, better social adjustment was found to rely on higher level of economic life, English proficiency and participation in class and club activities. Third, emotional adjustment increases in proportion to excellence in second language skills, participation in class and club activities and mentors. Fourth, higher institutional attachment was found to be achieved by higher level of economic life, more experience of living in a third country, higher proficiency in English and computer and more active participation in class and club activities.
It was found that there were significant differences in their adjustment to campus life depending on such demographic characteristics of North Korean expatriate college students as college year, economic level, experience of living in a third country, residential period in South Korea, language proficiency, computer skill, mentors, and participation in class and club activities. In terms of the types of education before admission, enrollees from North Korean universities showed higher level of academic adjustment than those from individual qualification examination, alternative schools and junior and senior high schools in South Korea, but their emotional adjustment was quite the opposite.
As this study determined the factors influencing North Korean expatriates' adjustment to campus life and the differences in their adjustment on campus depending on each factor, it is to suggest implications for governments and educational institutions and private organizations to seek for directions of support policies. Moreover, further subsequent studies are required to deal with other factors related to North Korean expatriates' adjustment to campus life, specific policies and support plans and their employment and course of life after graduation.