• Assets

  • Strong family ties and loyalty: refugees who have escaped are often committed to sending money back to their families. 

  • Strong motivation for success: Those who have escaped and successfully relocated are committed to living productive lives. 

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• Needs

  • Healthcare

  • Food

  • Safety

  • Economic, religious, and governmental freedom

• Social participation: 

  • Coping strategies. In order to cope with the traumatic experience of escaping North Korea, it is crucial to teach individuals coping strategies and to connect refugees to others to build a support system.

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• Leisure: 

  • Exploration. For those who were not born into wealthy families, leisure activities are incredibly limited because there is little or no extra money to buy valued items. For instance, the supplies to sing karaoke, which is a common leisure activity, may be impossible to obtain unless you were born into a wealthy family.  for those who can afford it. Therefore, it may be enjoyable for individuals to learn what activities are available and how to do them. 

  • Participation. Most North Koreans grow up working very hard for the government. Due to that, they not only are unable to participate in many leisure activities, but they may not value leisure activities like those in other nations do. 

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• Work: 

  • Skills training: North Koreans may have gained skills while working in their home country. But, their education may have been limited and their experiences in various types of work may be severely limited. Employment can be a problem for refugees in a country were they do not know the language and the workforce runs completely differently than it did at home. They may need help with interviewing skills and navigating employment contracts. 

  •  Goal setting: As these refugees were severely limited in freedom, they may not have experience setting future goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, and time-bound. Many did not have their basic needs met, making long term thinking and planning difficult. 

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• Education:

  • Few North Korean children receive adequate education, especially the women. Refugee children and adults may need to be connected to schools, high school, and colleges that provide extra academic support so they are able to catch up. 

  • Environmental exploration. By traveling to different cities and countries, individuals have the opportunity to learn so much about different cultures. Without the freedom to leave North Korea, they are unable to have these opportunities.  

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• IADLs

  • Since North Koreans grew up with very little freedom, they need to learn skills such as community mobility, meal preparation, home and health maintenance, and care of others. Each of these skills may have been learned while they were in North Korea, but living in a different country surrounded by unknown individuals and customs creates a different context. For instance, since North Koreans get food rations, they may need to learn how to go to the grocery store and prepare more diverse foods since they are used to primarily eating grains.

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It is extremely dangerous and expensive to escape North Korea. Those who do it typically settle in China or South Korea. However, if found in China, they will be returned to North Korea and severely punished. South Koreans welcome those who escape because they long to reunite the two nations. The United States has also accepted over 200 defectors, but the Trump administration makes the process difficult. There are very few other nations where North Korean defectors have settled. 

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The Korea Hana Foundation is a non-profit organization aiming to help the 30,000 refugees from North Korea resettle in South Korea. They currently help with support for immediate resettlement, medical expenses, employment, youth education, and investigative studies. Another foundation doing similar work is called Liberty in North Korea. However, their focus is getting North Korean refugees out of China safely before they help them resettle in South Korea. According to their website, it costs $3,000 to complete this process with a single refugee. There is much danger for those who work and volunteer with this organization due to China’s strict laws about North Korean refugees.