Identidade nacional em uma nação dividida: os desafios de integração dos desertores norte-coreanos na Coreia do Sul

Abstract

The present study aims to analyze the North Korean migration to South Korea from the difficulties faced by defectors and its implications on the formation of social identity of these individuals. To achieve this goal, the work followed three specific objectives: analyze how the recent historical context of the Korean peninsula impacts the integration of North Koreans into South Korean society, discuss the resettlement policies and the status of North Koreans from the perspectives of international law, the South Korean legal system, and the transit countries in Southeast Asia, and investigate the problems of the social integration of North Korean defectors in its current model, as well as the influence of the denomination of North Koreans in South Korea as "defectors" on the recognition and legal protection of this group. To this end, it was supported by works such as those by Lankov (2006), Kim (2017), and Lee (2018), as well as the report by the International Crisis Group (2011). The methodological approach was an exploratory bibliographic investigation, which concluded that, beyond international treaties and legal contradictions, the most difficult aspect of the adaptation of North Korean defectors to life in South Korea lies at the social level. The result of the research points to the evolution of North Korean defection to the South and the changes in the perception of defectors, which have brought significant impacts to the resettlement policies and social integration of North Koreans, as well as reflecting on the importance of defectors in the transition to a unified peninsula.