The Effects of Discrimination Experience on Life Satisfaction of North Korean Refugees: Mediating Effect of Stress

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the mediation effect of stress between the experience of discrimination and life satisfaction among North Korean refugees who resettled in South Korea. The findings of the current study provide empirical evidence for the need of social interventions to mitigate adverse effects of stress on North Korean refugees who are subject to social discrimination on a daily basis. METHODS: In this study, we included 500 subjects among 2,138 North Korean refugees who took refuge in South Korea in 2007. The interview started from April 6th 2009 and finished on May 25th 2009. We conducted moderator effect analysis with Path analysis was conducted because we confirm the experience of discrimination was affected by life satisfaction and stress can affected life satisfaction as a moderator. RESULTS: The experience of discrimination significantly affects stress and stress significantly affects life satisfaction. However, the experience of discrimination was not directly related to life satisfaction. The more stress the study respondents experienced, the lower the life satisfaction they reported. CONCLUSION: The present finding suggests that the effects of discriminating experiences on the life satisfaction of North Korean refugees in South Korea were mediated by their own perceived stress.

What Is It to Be Mentally Healthy from the North Korean Refugees’ Perspective?: Qualitative Research on the Changes in Mental Health Awareness among the North Korean Refugees

OBJECTIVE: We investigated how mental health awareness among North Korean refugees transformed depending on temporal-spatial context changes. METHODS: In 2013, we conducted interviews with 10 refugees (eight women) who had been in South Korea for over a year and performed a qualitative analysis of the change in mental health awareness in the differences between living in North Korea, escape (a related period of forced sojourn in a third country), and settlement in South Korea. RESULTS: We classified 39 concepts into five main categories. The first two categories (while living in North Korea) were “a mindset for the system, but not for individual mental health” and “being confined in a social environment that was indifferent to mental health.” A third category appeared during escape: “focusing on survival amid continuity of intense suffering.” The final two categories appeared when settling in South Korea: “recognition of mental health amid cultural shock” and “introspection and sorting oneself out.” CONCLUSION: This qualitative study enabled a better multi-dimensional understanding of the social and cultural aspects involved in improving mental health awareness among North Korean refugees in South Korea. It is desirable to integrate mental health as a part of daily life and to expand training for North Korean settlers.