Let the defectors stand on their own feet

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Let the defectors stand on their own feet

Published: 11 Sep. 2024, 19:53

Kim Byung-yeon
The author is a chair professor of economics at Seoul National University.

When I was studying in Britain in the early 1990s, only three of my classmates were not fluent in English — me, a Korean, a Chinese student and a Japanese student. At the end of each semester, we had a small party to celebrate our survival. Despite all the hardships, all of us managed to earn a Ph.D. in economics. But strangely, American students made up the largest share of dropouts in our university. When I asked one of them why he wanted to return home, he attributed it to “culture shock.” It was hard to believe at that time. But in my trip to the United States after living in the United Kingdom for a while, I discovered stark cultural differences between the two. In Britain, for instance, customers can freely look around in shops, but in America, employees approach them and say, “Can I help you?” That felt like pressure on me to get out of the shop if I couldn’t find a product I wanted to buy.

The socialist system also changes culture. Scholars who studied Eastern Europe discovered a close connection between socialism and drinking cultures: The longer the people live under socialist systems, the more they drink alcohol. If people live in a socialist state at the age of 18 to 25 — a period when their social consciousness is formed — they will drink heavily when they get older. For them, drinking was the only escape from oppressive environments — and it was difficult to find other methods of entertainment. Socialism hampers the accumulation of human capital. According to a thesis on the correlations between social systems and people’s intelligence during German unification, there was a big gap in IQ between conscripts from West Germany and those from East Germany — 101 vs. 95. But the latter group’s IQ rose by 0.5 each year after the two countries were unified.

North Korean defectors have much trouble settling in South Korea. A research by the Korea Hana Foundation shows that their unemployment rate at 4.5 to 9.4 percent was much higher than 2.7 to 4.0 percent of South Koreans over the past five years. Without subsidies or special treatment at public organizations, the gap would have been even bigger, not to mention the difference in their incomes. When asked how well they are adjusting to the South Korean lifestyle, only 18 percent said, “Completely,” while 74 percent said, “So-so” or “To some degree.”

What makes their settlement in the South so difficult? A primary reason is the internalization of the North’s socialism and totalitarianism. A research team at the Department of Economics at Seoul National University published a paper in an international journal, which highlights the importance of a cultural or value system in the defectors’ adjustment to South Korean lifestyles. The results of an implicit association test showed a close relationship between a willingness, even unconsciously, to feel familiar with the North and their economic achievements in the South. In other words, the socialist system they experienced in the North weakens their motivation to succeed in the South, compelling them to think and act passively.

The cultural codes of South and North Korea have greatly diverged in the seven decades after the division of the Korean Peninsula. A defector said he was clueless about what to do when he was left at home alone after finishing the adjustment programs at the Hana Foundation. They had just followed what the regime said. Even if our government helps them settle here and provide related information, they still cannot know how to handle them. If they have acquaintances in the South, they can help them adjust and create a successful life here. But on average, they have only one person who can help them in the South. It’s much easier for foreigners to find a job than North Korean defectors.

The defectors are victims of the oppressive system in North Korea. For them, settling in South Korea represents another “Arduous March.” A real preparation for the unification of the divided land starts with helping them stand on their feet — quickly and successfully. Only then can people in the North aspire to see reunification and people in the South stop worrying about massive unification costs. The key to tackling the challenges the Yoon Suk Yeol administration mentioned in the new Unification Doctrine lies right there. Our government’s polices to support North Korean defectors have not been based on data. The time has come for the government and academia to find a formula to help the defectors survive in South Korea.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.