탈북난민의 미국 초기 적응에 관한 사례연구

A Case Study on the Early Adaptation of North Korean Refugees in the U. S.

본 연구의 목적은 미국에 거주하는 탈북난민의 초기 적응 과정을 탐색하여 이들의 일상적 삶에 관한 실천적, 정책적 이슈를 제기하는 것이었다. 이러한 연구목적의 달성을 위해 질적연구방법의 하나인 사례연구를 선택하였으며, 사례는 미국 접촉이전단계, 미국 접촉단계, 미국 정착단계의 3 단계로 구분하여 분석되었다. 탈북난민은 미국 접촉이전 단계에서 남한 탈북이주민과 또 다른 인식 전환의 과정이 있었다. 미국 접촉단계에서는 자녀를 위한 선택, 문화적 차이, 언어의 장벽 등과 같은 요인에서 한인 이민 1세대와 유사성도 발견되었지만, 난민으로서의 삶과 기존 한인회의 원조 등은 차이점이었다. 다음으로 미국 정착단계에서는 한인 1세대의 기존 적응유형을 통해 향후 탈북난민들의 미국 적응을 간접적으로 추정해 볼 수 있다는 사실을 확인하였다. 이를 통해 탈북난민에 대한 국내외의 관심과 이들의 적응을 위한 실제적 실천방안들이 필요함을 알 수 있었다.

In this study, the cases of North Korean refugees who are living in the United States were analyzed and compared with the life of the first-generation Korean immigrants in the United States. The purpose of this study was to find the way to improve the North Korean refugees’adaptation to life in the United States through aforementioned analysis and comparison process, and to raise policy issues on North Korean refugees in the United States. In this study, case study, a qualitative study, were chosen, and the cases were classified into a phase before contact with the states, a phase with contact with the states, and phase with a settlement in the states. For a phase before contact with the states, motif for defection from North Korea and process of defection were not greatly different between North Korean refugees in the states and South Korea, but at the last stage of selection, the refugees in the states showed a turning point in their awareness and changed the final destinations to the states from South Korea. At a phase with contact with the states, similarities were found in factors such as selection for the child, cultural differences, and language barrier between North Korean refugees in the states and the first-generation Korean immigrants but life as a refugee and support from the Korean American Association were differences between North Korean refugees in the states and the first-generation Korean immigrants. At the phase with a settlement in the states, it was found that indirect assumption could be made about the future North Korean refugees’adaptation to the states based on the types of adaptations of the first-generation Korean immigrants.