Korea Journal, vol. 55, no. 4 (winter 2015): 56-84.

56 KOREA
Korean National JOURNAL
Commission for /UNESCO,
WINTER 2015

The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean

Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society:
Policy Implications for Supporting North Korean Escapees*

KANG Gu Sup and CHAE Soo-Eun

Abstract

This paper examined the effectiveness of a program to train North Korean teachers to
adjust to South Korean society. It used a biographical approach and aimed to examine
the characteristics of the adaptation of North Korean teachers who escaped from their
country to South Korea. The training program endeavored to assist their adaptation by
perpetuating their specialized professional work experience from North Korea. Inter-
views with 28 North Korean teachers were analyzed, and the effects on and experiences
of the participants in the adaptation program of the Korean Educational Development
Institute (KEDI) involving the North Korean Teachers Academy were presented the-
matically. In line with major points that arose during the interviews, recommendations
were made about policies to support North Korean teachers and the other North Kore-
an escapees adapt effectively to their new society through training based on their past
occupational experiences in North Korea.
Keywords: Korean unification, North Korea, North Korean teacher, North Korean
escapees, cultural adaptation,adult education

* This paper is based on in-depth interview data collected from North Korean teachers who
participated in 20112012 training programs of the North Korean Teachers Academy
(NKTA)carried out by the Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI).
KANG Gu Sup is Research Fellow at the Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI).
E-mail: [email protected].
CHAE Soo-Eun is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education, Gangneung-
Wonju National University, South Korea. E-mail: [email protected].
The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 57

Introduction

North and South Korea both recognize that North-South unification is a

long-desired task that must be resolved at some point.
Beyond the issues of integrating political, economic, and social sys-
tems, a key task is establishing a state of peaceful coexistence between the
residents of North and South Korea in a unified Korea. In order for the
members of a unified society to be able to peacefully live together, efforts to
promote peaceful coexistence between North Korean (hereafter, NK)
escapees and South Koreans must precede national unification.
In fact, NK escapees inevitably struggle to adapt to their new society in
South Korea due to differences between North and South Korea. South
Korean (hereafter, SK) society over the last several decades has become
very different economically and culturally from the North. Most NK escap-
ees exhibit insomnia, depression, and other psychiatric symptoms and are
known to have serious psychological issues (Han 2013). Considering the
multiple dimensions of their experiences and abilities before their escape,
as well as the current hardships they face, is important to help NK escapees
adapt to SK society. Regarding adult learning, some have suggested that
adaptation programs for NK escapees should be based on their previous
academic and work record in North Korea (No and Chun 2009). In this
view, NK escapees adapting to and living in a very different SK system offer
an important preview of what the North and South living together may
look like. Successful adaptation in the South by NK escapees can lead to
identifying possible ways residents from the North and South can coexist
and promote a positive understanding of a unified Korea.
Accordingly, this paper examines the effectiveness of a program to train
NK teachers to adjust to SK society. A biographical approach is employed
with the aim of examining the characteristics of the adaptation of NK teach-
ers who escaped their country to South Korea. The training program
attempted to assist their adaptation by building on their prior professional
work experience in North Korea.
In addition, this paper looked at policy implications to help the adap-
tation of not only NK teachers but also the over 26,000 other NK escapees
58 KOREA JOURNAL / WINTER 2015

who are living in South Korea.1 The current study also provided policy
implications for the NK people, who would need to adapt to a unified gov-
ernment to be established in the future for Korea. More specifically, this
paper focused on how the NK teachers are applying their prior professional
work experience in North Korea to the process of adapting to South Korea;
it also presented some policy implications for their successful adaptation by
making use of their occupational experiences in North Korea.
While this study provides academic and practical contributions to the
development of future NK teacher programs, some of the main limitations
of the present study can be discussed as follows: first, the most obvious lim-
itation of the study is the representation of the study sample, which was
based on in-depth interview data collected from a limited number of 28
NK teachers out of many other NK teachers who were enrolled in the
Korean Educational Development Institutes (hereafter, KEDI) NK Teach-
ers Academy (hereafter, NKTA) program. Second, the NKTA program was
designed and mapped out based entirely on the understanding of SK edu-
cators and experts specializing in the SK system. Therefore, more compre-
hensive studies with a much larger sample size and methodological trian-
gulation would be required to ensure the validity and reliability of the find-
ings of the study.

Selection and Training Procedures for Teachers in North Korea

Ever since North Korea was founded, the country has attached great impor-
tance to policies surrounding its school teacherswho are responsible for
the education of future generations of the fatherland. Specifically, school
teachers are defined as professional revolutionaries who work to raise
future generations as heirs of the revolution and as communists, and the
government stresses that, in front of the party and the revolution, they
bear responsibility for the future of the fatherland (Kim 1990, 509).

1. Ministry of Unification. Statistics. Accessed January 10, 2014. http://www.unikorea.

go.kr/index.do?menuCd=DOM_000000105006006000.
The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 59

From this definition of the profession, one can note the process for
acquiring knowledge. In North Korea, educational institutions for teachers
can be divided into two categories: kindergarten and primary school
(equivalent to South Koreas elementary school) teachers go through a pro-
gram at a three-year college of education, and middle and high school
teachers complete a course at a four-year college of education. Each city or
province generally has two of each type of college of education. Typically,
in North Korea, students are selected in a two-step process that involves a
national graduation examination and a civil servant examination (Han
1998, 190), and to gain admission to either type of college of education one
must have not only excellent grades but also the proper seongbun (class
and family background) and meet other criteria.
In addition to processes of admission, the main courses at North
Koreas educational institutions for teachers vary from program to program,
but they can be divided into three broad categories (Han 1998, 243). The
first is made up of courses that emphasize ideological education, such as the
revolutionary history of Kim Il Sung, Juche (self-reliance) philosophy, and
the writings of Kim Il Sung. The second category consists of basic educa-
tion courses (e.g. education, psychology, educational methodology, and stu-
dent teaching) while the third category involves subject matter courses.
Since North Koreas educational institutions for teachers perform the
important function of training professional revolutionaries whose mis-
sion is educating future generations, they proceed with every aspect of the
processstudent selection, education curricula, teacher placement, and
reeducationin a systematic fashion. Since the primary task of school
teachers is raising future generations as heirs of the communist revolution,
colleges of education emphasize communist ideological education along
with cultivating teachers knowledge and skills for teaching classes in their
specialty subjects.
In fact, the review of the selection and training procedures for teach-
ers in North Korea shows that NK teachers-to-be are educated and trained
to be teachers in quite a different way compared to those in South Korea,
such as in basic concepts and values, goals, methods, and the nature of
education.
60 KOREA JOURNAL / WINTER 2015

The Adaptation Status of North Korean Escapees in South Korea

Adaptation Programs for North Korean Escapees

For adult escapees from North Korea, education for social adaptation starts
with an initial 12-week program run by the Ministry of Unification at its
education facility for early-stage adaptation, Hanawon. Participants live at
the center for the duration of the program. Social adaptation education
covers psychological and emotional stability, understanding SK society,
career guidance, and basic vocational training. The standard course at
Hanawon takes 420 hours, while escapees may also voluntarily participate
in a 438-hour supplementary program offered on evenings and weekends.
Supplementary courses are on subjects that NK escapees can immediately
apply to their lives in South Korea, such as getting a drivers license and
parenting. Table 1 details the subjects, fields, and hours of study of the
social adaptation program for NK escapees.
After NK escapees complete Hanawons education program for early-
stage adaptation, they move to their resettlement locations and participate
in a second-stage program for social adaptation in their respective regions.
Regional adaptation centers (also known as Hana Centers) are responsible
for a three-week education program for regional adaptation, which pro-
vides job search support, academic guidance, and other important practical
knowledge and information for adapting to their new region.
More specifically, the adaptation programs at Hanawon and the
respective region of their residence focus on a general understanding of SK
society, such as democracy and capitalism on one side, and a program for
vocational education on the other side. The resocialisation program had an
undeniably crucial meaning for NK escapees as newcomers to South
Korea. Participation in the program provided an opportunity to compre-
hend SK law as well as the basic sensibility of SK people in their careers and
daily lives. However, these programs tended not to provide information
and knowledge necessary for understanding SK culture, which means that
vocational education was emphasized over other considerations.
The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 61

Table 1. Social Adaptation Program for North Korean Escapees

at the Early-Stage Social Adaptation Education Center (Hanawon)

Subject Area Contents (hours)

Promoting emotional stability Emotional stability program (30)
and health (49 hours, 11.7%) Health promotion program (19)
Democratic civil education program (10)
Adapting to capitalism program (6)
Understanding our society
Understanding society program (40)
(124 hours, 29.5%)
Language adaptation program (32)
Participatory learning (36)
A basic career guidance test and understanding
Career guidance and the hiring process (12)
basic vocational training Vocational information & information on getting a job (40)
(196 hours, 46.7%) Career guidance program (14)
Basic employment adaptation program (130)
Understanding the resettlement support system (10)
Initial resettlement support
Program on living at Hanawon (15)
(51 hours, 12.1%)
Administrative support program (26)
Total 420 hours
Source: Ministry of Unification (2012)2

Furthermore, all the courses provided are basically mandatory rather than
voluntary for NK escapees. Thus, the participants lost motivation for work-
ing through the program. Besides the problem of motivation, the program is
basically designed for general NK escapees, meaning that the content of the
program does not fulfill specific needs of the individual escapees and does
not consider their personal background, characteristics, and vocational
experiences back in North Korea.
These shortcomings in the existing adaptation programs for NK
escapees in Hanawon and Hana Centers demonstrate the need for a new
kind of resocialisation program governed by a holistic approach that takes
into account the personal life histories of NK escapees and their special

2. Ministry of Unification, Adjustment programs for North Korean Refugees (Seoul: Minis-
try of Unification, 2012), unpublished.
62 KOREA JOURNAL / WINTER 2015

needs on an individual level in order to support their social, cultural, and

career adaptation.

The Career Status of North Korean Escapees

Vocational education for NK escapees is led by the Ministry of Unification

and the Ministry of Labor and Employment, and comes in the form of pol-
icies supporting adaptation to and resettlement in SK society for NK escap-
ees. The program is divided into basic vocational adaptation training and
specialized vocational training. Basic training aims to prepare NK escapees
with basic job skills necessary in SK society. The basics of the information
age and of life in the workplace, specialized jargon and terminology
imported into Korean from other languages, and field trips designed for
practical learning are covered for one month during the second half of par-
ticipants stay at Hanawon. Specialized vocational training happens at spe-
cialized vocational training institutes, and NK escapees receive support for
completing up to three training programs during their five-year period for
resettlement support.
After taking vocational training, about 46% of all participants acquired
the relevant certificate or license. However, in general there appears to be
little relationship between acquiring certification and acquiring a job. NK
escapees often worked in primary industries (agricultural and fishing,
16.2%) or secondary industries (manufacturing, 30%) in the North, but in
SK society they mostly work in tertiary industries (wholesale and retail
30.6% and private or public services 36.9%), so a low correlation exists
between the category of work they did in North Korea and that in which
they are employed in South Korea (Cho, Kim, and Sun 2012, 27), leading
many enter the workplace in generally low-level jobs (Park and Kang 2008,
63). To sum up, many of the NK escapees were not well prepared with
vocational competencies to sufficiently play important roles in their careers
as required in SK workplaces. Accordingly, considering the large gap
between North and SK social, cultural, and labor market system, vocational
resocialisation for NK escapees in SK society is not an easy task to manage
in a short period of time.
The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 63

An Adaptation Program for Specialists among North Korean

Escapees: The North Korean Teachers Academy

General Training Programs for North Korean Teachers

KEDIs Education Support Center for NK Migrants held at NKTA four

times between 2009 and 2013, during which time more than 60 people
completed the course. The program was divided into 60 hours of general
training and 30 hours of intensive training (see Table 2). NK teachers and
other related experts in the field presented their points of view in the pro-
cess of developing the NKTA program.
While some differences were apparent in subjects over the four times
the program was run, by and large the contents of the general training pro-
gram offered a basic understanding of SK education and covered curricula
and teaching methods for core subjects (Korean, mathematics, and
English). Participants also gave presentations on topics, such as their indi-
vidual experiences in the adaptation process in South Korea.

Table 2. NKTA General Training by Subject and Number of Hours

Curricula and teaching methods

Understanding Participant
Subject for core subjects Totals
SK education presentations
Korean Mathematics English
Number of
14 14 14 14 4 60
Hours
% 23 23 23 23 8 100
Source: Han (2013)

The main contents of general training focused on the field of education,

specifically on teaching methods and curricula, school culture, and par-
ent-teacher relationships, in order for participants to understand differenc-
es in education between the North and South. Also, for the core subjects of
Korean, English, and mathematics, the training was conducted in order to
help participants concretely understand SK curricula and teaching meth-
ods by using approaches like class observation (Lee 2012, 149).
64 KOREA JOURNAL / WINTER 2015

Table 3. NKTA General Training Program

Area Subject Lecture content details

Comparing and contrasting the

Comparing education in
philosophy and objectives of education in
North and South Korea and
North and South Korea and the contents
searching for a direction
and direction of SK education policy

Instruction methods (lecture methods,

discussion methods, and cooperative
learning)
Curricula (changes and characteristics
Instruction methods and
of the 7th National Curriculum)
school culture
School culture (curriculum formation,
management committees, parent
associations, running after school
programs, specialty classrooms,)

Teaching
Understanding Instruction
SK education Making teaching and Instruction models (lectures, discussions,
lesson plans projects, and investigative learning)
Actual teaching
Evaluations

The contents of unification education in

The necessity of and tasks
schools, the present state of unification
for unification education
awareness, issues surrounding unification
in schools
education

Issues surrounding and

The present condition of NK escapee
measures for helping
students and steps and measures for their
NK escapee students
adaptation to school
adapt to school

Ways to increase Understanding the causes and overcoming

basic elementary deficiencies and instructing methods in
school academic skills accordance with students individual traits
The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 65

Comparing North and SK dialects and

Korean grammar
Korean-language curricula
Korean The makeup of Korean textbooks
Reading
Discussion
Curricula and Writing
teaching
A comparison of North and SK
methods for
mathematics curricula and teaching
core subjects Mathematics
methods for various fields of mathematics
(geometry and measurements)

An introduction to English education

Elementary English curricula
English
Vocabulary teaching method
Teaching spoken language

Participant Personal resettlement experiences

presentations Comparing North and SK teaching methods

Source: Lee (2012)

In-depth Training program for North Korean Teachers

Unlike general training, intensive training involved actual class participa-

tion by the NK teachers through, for example, class discussion. The training
content was selected based on their previous work experiences in North
Korea and was tailored toward giving practical help needed for participat-
ing in the workplace in South Korea. Along with other subjects, they
learned counseling techniques and communication skills, which were not
included in general training. More specifically, in order to give the partici-
pants who had become accustomed to lecture-style classes an understand-
ing of inquiry-centered teaching methods in which the students themselves
search for answers, the program employed Understanding Methods for
Teaching Elementary Mathematics and a section on helping themselves
and escapee students understand and recover from psychological wounds,
66 KOREA JOURNAL / WINTER 2015

entitled The Psychology of Students and Counseling Techniques. In order

to increase understanding of communication skills in the South, an Effec-
tive Communication Skills section was incorporated as well (see Table 4).

Table 4. NKTA Intensive Training Program

Understanding Korean-language curricula

Increasing writing ability through a reading activity program

Korean and writing
Connecting class discussion with reading and writing

Elementary writing

Mathematics Understanding methods for teaching elementary mathematics

Social studies Understanding elementary and middle school social studies

Student psychology and guidance techniques

Counseling
Parent-teacher consultation techniques and practice

Making and using PowerPoint presentations for class

NK teachers presentations on resettlement experiences

Miscellaneous
A school teachers leadership

Effective communication skills

Source: Han (2013)

Basically, the NKTA program is differentiated from some of the general

adaptation programs, like the Hanawon and Hana centers developed for all
the NK escapees, since it considered the career experiences of the partici-
pants in North Korea and their special needs to work as experts in the field
of education in South Korea. In other words, the NK teachers had opportu-
nities to participate in a highly practical program that used and applied
their past professional experiences as teachers in North Korea.
To sum up, the NKTA program is characterized by a curriculum that
provides the NK teachers with a variety of knowledge and information
available to adjust to SK society and schools. During the program they had
The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 67

a chance to develop a good grasp of SK society and schools operating in a

different educational system from those in North Korea. Moreover, they
had the opportunities to promote their vocational abilities and aptitude
necessary to work in South Korea in connection with their prior career
experiences. This program might then be expected to show them influen-
tial ways to contribute to SK education.

Methods

Participants

A total of 28 NK teachers participated in interviews for this research. They

each had a minimum of one year of teaching experience in North Korea:
five worked in NK elementary schools, 21 in middle and high schools,

Table 5. Composition of the Interviewees by NKTA Session Attended

and Subjects taught in North Korea

Attended Session
1st offering 2nd offering Total
Subject
Elementary 2 3 5
Revolutionary 0 1 1
Music 0 2 2
Korean 2 2 4
Chemistry 2 1 3
Mathematics 4 1 5
History 1 0 1
Biology 1 0 1
Physics 1 0 1
Economics 0 1 1
Art 0 2 2
Physical Education 0 1 1
Chinese Characters 0 1 1
Total 13 15 28
Source: Han (2013)
68 KOREA JOURNAL / WINTER 2015

while two worked at vocational schools, which are the Norths equivalent of
South Koreas technical colleges. The subjects taught range from Korean,
mathematics, physics, and chemistry to art and music. Interviewees had
finished the NKTA administered by the Education Support Center for NK
Migrants in KEDI; 13 participants completed the program in the first ses-
sion (January 9March 20, 2010) while 15 finished it in the second session
(October 29, 2011February 11, 2012).

Procedures

This project used qualitative research methods with in-depth interviews of

the NK teachers about their experiences before and after escaping. The 28
NK teachers were interviewed in groups of two or three for two hours at
the research lab of Education Support Center for NK Migrants. Each inter-
view group consisted of participants from the same NKTA session. Aside
from basic information about the participants and in order to analyze
changes from before and after having completed the NKTA activities,
interview questions covered seven broad areas: 1) teaching and education
experiences in North Korea; 2) satisfaction with life in South Korea; 3) dif-
ficulties; 4) the NKTA training curriculum; 5) teachers changes from
before and after NKTA training activities; 6) teachers activities aside from
the training; and 7) psychological changes and job-related adaptation to SK
society. Additionally, participants were asked about the class on home visits
(for teaching NK escapee students), their giving lectures on unification,
and differences in the roles of NK and SK teachers. The interviews were
audio-recorded and later transcribed by assistants.
Besides the interviews with the teachers, in order to organize the NK
teachers experiences before and after escaping North Korea through a
biographical approach, Grounded Theory methodology was utilized (Gla-
ser and Strauss 1977). This analytic technique consists of three stepspri-
mary coding, axial coding, and selective codingallowing for capturing
emerging themes from the data (Strauss and Corbin 1998). Primary coding
or open coding is the analytic process through which concepts are identi-
fied and their properties and dimensions are discovered in the data (Strauss
The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 69

and Corbin 1998, 101). The primary coding is followed by axial coding,
the process of relating the primary codes to subcategories (Strauss and
Corbin 1998), and selective coding, the process of integrating and refin-
ing the theory (Strauss and Corbin 1998, 143). Through these processes,
the coders built critical thematic stories that flow throughout the entire
dataset.

Results

Downgrades in Their Occupational Status and Culture Shock

in South Korea

The careers of NK teachers were recognized as having a relatively high sta-

tus in North Korea, but they were frustrated because their teaching experi-
ence in the North was not given due recognition in South Korea. Since the
NK teachers could not pursue their teaching profession in South Korea,
they experienced a slump in their occupational status. The following remark
from a May interview shows how the interviewee suffered from perceived
gaps between the South and NK languages:

I cant even dream about working in my profession, and I thought there

wasnt anything I could do except work in a restaurant, so I went to work
at restaurant and there a customer asked for a yoji. It was the first time
Id heard the word yoji. I asked the owner what it was, and she told me it
was a toothpick (May 3, 2011 K1).

The NK teachers were often troubled even during work in low-quality

fields due to a misunderstanding of SK language and a lack of apprehen-
sion regarding SK society. In a field that by nature relies on knowledge,
because the value of the teachers knowledge acquired in North Korea is
unrecognized, the value placed on their work experience in the NK teach-
ing profession is inevitably much lower while in South Korea. Additionally,
as examined earlier, because educational institutions for teachers in North
Korea focus not only on courses about cultivating knowledge and skills but
70 KOREA JOURNAL / WINTER 2015

also on communist ideology, and because the education that future teach-
ers get in North Korea happens in a considerably different environment,
the recognition of NK teachers professionalism is difficult in South Korea.
As a result of this lack of appreciation, many of the NK teachers under-
went emotional issues related to SK culture. A sense of cultural and emo-
tional differences between North and South Korea commonly led to issues
in interpersonal relationships and their social lives. While in North Korea
they enjoyed a high level of education and a relatively stable development
background, after they came to South Korea they underwent difficulties
due to differences in language, etiquette, and ways of speaking. The diffi-
culty of being able to find someone who understood the differences and
could help with them was a source of isolation in South Korea for the teach-
ers. Language differences especially emerged as a decisive stumbling block
for NK teachers adapting to SK society. Even though South Korea uses the
same alphabet and writing system, disparities in words and the nuance of
phrases reveal the two nations are linguistically very different. Such lan-
guage differences between the two countries seemed to result in the NK
teachers anxieties and difficulties in attempting to adjust to SK society,
which was evident in the following excerpts from a May interview:

I had been hurt because of cultural differences, so I wanted to ask how

SK people would handle this situation. But theres no one I could call and
discuss the matter with. It was very hard to deal with this all alone by
myself (May 13, 2011, S1).

Also, the language and cultural differences were tremendous. It was a

shockthings are going along smoothly and then you get this shock and
you just want to quit (May 12, 2011, C2).

Generally, the NK escapees suffered because they had not taken the best
career choice in South Korea, which means that they were just enrolled in a
certain job training course and employed with little consideration of their
life history and past work experiences in North Korea. Further, the dissimi-
larities between the social and cultural system and emotional predicaments
(e.g. loneliness and a sense of isolation) of North and South Korea also
The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 71

caused them to go through tough times in adapting to SK society. In this

regard, the struggles encountered in adjusting to SK society are likely to be
more complicated for most of the NK people, including teachers and other
escapees, if unification between two countries occurs and is implemented
instantaneously.
Consequently, a social adaptation program for the NK escapees should
be incorporated with a curriculum not only providing ideas related to
occupational competencies but also stabilizing their psychological and
emotional state in consideration of the social and cultural differences
between North and South Korea.

Recognizing the Need to Acquire Teaching Expertise and

Exploration of Teacher Roles

After arriving in South Korea, it appears the NK teachers were in survival

mode. For most of them, the training was a time to pause and look back
on their past life. The break rekindled their desire to remember and regain
their roles as teachers, which led them to think about actual, concrete ways
to achieve retraining in their related fields, acquisition of certification, and
other related concerns. By participating in the training course, one of the
participants testified on realizing his need to study in a new university and
thereafter entered graduate school. Thus, the training for NK teachers not
only motivated them to enhance their learning, it also gave them an impe-
tus to perform concrete changes in their activities, like entering graduate
schools. Thus, participating in the academy encouraged them to undertake
the challenge of new learning in graduate school as in this excerpt from an
April interview:

I was like that, too. I also came and went through the same process with
XXX. I couldnt think about studying again, I just worked and thought
about earning money. From participating in NKTA, because (being able
to use) computers is essential, I went to a computer academy and am
earning certifications, and Im also studying social welfare. Im also
72 KOREA JOURNAL / WINTER 2015

studying counseling. At NKTA, the thought that I can do it was planted

in me (April 28, 2011, L2).

Even though theres (the issue of) my age, I have to study a bit more, of
course. The NKTA training was very short. I thought how great it would
be to transfer to a place like a college of education and study there. The
training was four times a month, which was not nearly enough, I think.
So I submitted my application to a graduate school of NK studies (May
20, 2011, K2).

In addition to further studying, the participants, through the training course

and especially through school visits and other practical experiences, had
time to recall their teaching experiences in North Korea. They once again
came to strongly desire the role of teaching students. Due to the differences
in knowledge of subject matter between North and South Korea, they real-
ized they would feel limited in teaching such knowledge, but they would be
able to perform the teachers role of guiding students lives if they became
teachers in South Korea.
By being called by the title of teacher during the program at NKTA,
based on the fact that they had worked as teachers in North Korea, their
identities as teachers were awakened, and this kind of awakening and reali-
zation of their past teaching experience was a source of great pride and joy.
They realized the responsibility a teacher fundamentally must carry out for
society, that is, they realized their task was changing students lives. By
participating in the academy, they thought that they have a possibility and
capacity to teach the students in South Korea, as indicated in the following
remarks:

I saw how the lectures used creative methods to teach the students. At the
same time I had the thought that I wanted to teach children again. My
strong point of having taught students in North Korea was recovered, and
when it comes to the subjects I taught, even if I may not have everything
needed, when it comes to teaching character or unification, I thought I
would like to give it a try (May 20, 2011, B1).

My strength is most easily being able to approach NK escapee youth in

The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 73

education, and being able to help them adapt well to SK society. I may
be weak in the knowledge area, but Ive learned a lot about the differenc-
es between the North and South, and I think I can continue to develop
my abilities. Because Ive made good use of the SK education system,
Ive got confidence that I can do it no matter what (May 3, 2011, C3).

Significantly, those NK teachers who lost confidence in their professional-

ism due to differences between the NK and SK educational systems gradu-
ally obtained self-confidence and reduced the threat of being isolated from
the SK system of education by participating in the NKTA program. In
other words, they achieved confidence to do something constructive in the
field of education in South Korea when they were well prepared in their
teaching skills and proficiency as required.

The Differentiation of Teaching Skills between North

and South Korea

In accordance with the past experiences of the teachers in North Korea,

they were able to quickly understand the characteristics of the SK educa-
tional system by passing through the NKTA program and also lucidly
grasp the differences between the NK and SK educational systems. For
instance, they recognized that the professionalism NK teachers were
expected to pursue was different from what SK teachers already acquired.
Compared to the SK system, education in North Korea uses cramming
methods of teaching in the classroom according to an excerpt from a May
interview:

Cramming methods of teaching were used in North Korea. It contrasted

from SK education: there were no perfect answers and no perfect errors.
The idea also seemed great. It is good to develop students creativity
(May 12, 2011, C2).

Teachers do not take care of levels of understanding of the NK students.

The students have to follow whatever their teacher instructs them to do.
Active learning led by the students doesnt exist in North Korea. The lev-
74 KOREA JOURNAL / WINTER 2015

els of learning among the students matter here (South Korea) (May 4,
2011, L1).

Hence, the NK teachers were able to easily comprehend both the positive
and negative features of both the NK and SK educational systems, respec-
tively, based on their past and current experiences. For example, they
reported some positive attitudes toward the SK educational system con-
cerning the recognition of SK education to develop the creativity of indi-
vidual students. However, they spoke out against the limited role of teach-
ers in South Korea in that they are not as responsible for the learning of
students in school as indicated in the following comments:

Teachers in North Korea guide the entire process of learning for each
student with regard to counseling and teaching specific academic sub-
jects. The SK teachers play only the administrative role whereas students
have to take private afterschool programs despite long hours of formal
instruction spent at schools regularly. Teachers do not take their full
responsibilities in South Korea (April 27, 2011, J5).

Consequently, the NK teachers have an intelligent understanding of the SK

educational system based on their varied personal experiences and active
participation in the NKTA program where theoretical knowledge and
practical skills were applied at the same time. They could expand the levels
of their understanding, recognition, and judgment of the educational sys-
tems of both countries by means of comparative studies and observations.

The Development of Required Teacher Expertise in South Korea

During the NKTA program, most of the NK teachers started to feel more
confident that their worries about teaching and leading were alleviated as
they were acquiring knowledge and information necessary for teaching
subjects in South Korea. Moreover, they had chances to develop practical
teaching skills, especially for the SK students, by assimilating SK teaching
methods. The acquisition of the new learning methods showed them the
The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 75

possibility that they could play certain roles as educational experts in

South Korea. The interviewees mentioned specific teaching methods that
they acquired in South Korea and also pointed out that they might have
used a NK teaching style unless they learned the new methods, as noted in
the following remarks:

I grew in analyzing SK teaching methods and other educational princi-

ples. It was practical and knowledgeable to compare North Korea and
South Korea. Indeed, the motivation-oriented teaching method was a
far better way than the cramming method of teaching (May 12, 2011,
C2).

I would have 100% performed the NK teaching styles to my students if I

did not pass the NKTA program. I could teach students in liberated and
intensive ways based on what I learned from the NKTA program (May
4, 2011, L1).

To sum up, NKTA provided the NK teachers opportunities to develop edu-

cational expertise and understand the principles, curriculum, and methods
of SK education, which served as a requirement to be able to work in South
Korea in the field of education.
Furthermore, in taking part in the NKTA program held by a national
research institute, KEDI had a special significance in recognizing the voca-
tional careers and experiences of the NK teachers in the SK public section.
Without this process, their professional experiences from North Korea
would unlikely be recognized in SK society. Upon articipating in the pro-
gram, some of them could obtain chances to be employed as educators in
the field of education in South Korea. For example, a group gained oppor-
tunities to work as assistant teachers in public schools where NK escapee
students were located and were helped to adapt to school life (Kang, Han,
and Lee 2014, 237).
76 KOREA JOURNAL / WINTER 2015

Recovering Teaching Efficacy and the Development of

Psychological Stability

The counseling courses provided in the intensive training program helped

the NK teachers to feel psychologically stable through analyzing their men-
tal capabilities and finding solutions for some cognitive predicaments as
well as acquire communication skills needed to counsel the students and
parents, meaning that the counseling courses offered them a chance to
understand themselves as well as serve as counselers:

How could I counsel parents when I myself was hurting? At first, I asked,
Why should I do this? while the session entitled, Let me understand
myself, was going on. In fact, the program was most useful when I actu-
ally went out to teach in the field. This might be the reason why I could
be able to counsel someone as I finally understood myself (May 12, 2011,
L3).

Consequently, the participants said that through participating in the train-

ing they thought about what role they could play in South Korea and found
psychological stability. They overcame a depreciation in self-worth and the
psychological frustration they experienced in South Korea, found stability,
and discovered new possibilities to begin their career as educational
experts as seen in the following interview:

To be specific, (the program) gave me confidence that I can help students

develop themselves. It greatly eased the anxiety of the NK escapees,
whod all undergone similar experiences. It really implanted in me the
confidence that Im always an important person in SK society (May 12,
2011, C3).

As a result, through the intensive program, the participants stated they not
only deepened their understanding of SK society, but also they solved diffi-
culties in communication they had experienced in relationships with their
family and neighbors. Participants in KEDIs NKTA program said the 60
hours of regular training helped them understand the basic differences
between NK and SK education, and furthermore, what happens on-site in
The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 77

SK education.
In addition to being a source of general information regarding SK
education, the training course was an opportunity for the participants to
recover their self-confidence. As the NK teachers stated several times, both
North and South Koreans see teachers as having a very good social status.
The realization of participants that they had been raised as educated per-
sons leading the future of the nation gave them considerable confidence.
Through the training course, the participants at last managed to remember
their forgotten title of teacher and exhibited a sense of contentment. An
interview shows how a NK teacher recalled this confidence as a teacher
after participating in NKTA:

The only thing that gives me confidence in myself is probably the fact
that I was a teacher in North Korea. From attending the education
course, I got confidence, and I enjoyed it. I had worked as a teacher for
15 years in North Korea. Actually, I had given up teaching after coming
to South Korea, but I realized teaching is what I can do after all (May 6,
2011, B2).

The Formation of a Community and Support for Adapting

to South Korean Society

The NK teachers who participated in the training course formed a sense of

community among themselves. Through sharing experiences that only
those who used to be teachers in the North had, they developed a unique
sense of closeness. By exchanging information about adapting to SK soci-
ety and education programs, they developed a sense of belonging and fel-
lowship that they were not able to form at other meetings of NK escapees.
This development of a community is extremely important because in
South Korea, NK escapees, including NK teachers, find it very difficult to
form human relationships that give them a sense of belonging. Given this
impediment, a meeting of people who had held the same jobs smoothed
communication among group members because they shared common
topics for conversation, allowing them to develop a sense of kinship over
78 KOREA JOURNAL / WINTER 2015

similar difficulties they faced. Their interviews indicated cohesiveness as a

result of the NKTA meetings as follows:

At Hanawon, too, there were many people together, but everyone

thought differently. If I come to this meeting, its really great. The atmo-
sphere is good, and theres the expectation that its just for us, but
because its all people whove received a basic education, we speak the
same language and emotionally are on the same page, too (May 3, 2011,
C1).

As noted in the preceding excerpt, the unique setting of the group with
teachers sharing the same cultural background provided NK teachers with
chances to converse about their difficulties and identities as NK teachers.
The NK teachers foresee that the confidence they regained through the
NKTA meetings will be of considerable help in adapting to SK society.
These meetings, which were made up of NK teachers with insufficient per-
sonal networks in SK society, played the important role of a community
that they could rely on psychologically and emotionally. At the same time,
they said the community of NK teachers was also signifcant when it came
to finding solutions for various problems confronting them while living in
SK society. They thought the NK teacher community was meaningful, and
the members mutually supported one another in adapting to society.
According to the following interview, the NK teachers exclusively exchange
career information with NKTA members based on belief about the NK
teachers strong intelligence and competence.

So if theres a good job position, it starts with us teachers. Rather than

others, I hope we teachers do well first. So, you know, if a job notice
comes up, I first call other teachers, of course. Even so, if a person who
was once called a teacher in North Korea comes here they have to do
well, of course. And again, no matter how low the quality of NK educa-
tion is, even so, its just that the way an educated person thinks is differ-
ent from the way an uneducated person thinks. We NK teachers, our
reason for repeatedly coming was to connect with other educated peo-
ple, which made it even better (May 6, 2011, B2).
The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 79

Thus, the participants in the NK teacher meetings very actively exchanged

information during the meetings. From sharing job listings to finding
methods to deal with difficulties encountered when interacting with South
Koreans, the meetings developed into a group for solving various prob-
lems. Having completed higher education, they were an actual communi-
ty of practice (Lave and Wenger 1991). They stated that the community
allowed them to share valuable information, and in the midst of daily life
and activities, they could seek different types of needed advice, as the fol-
lowing interview shows:

First of all, I visited NKTAs (online) caf every day without fail. The
best thing about that place was the part where we could look at material
that could educate NK escapee students. I signed up and looked at the
material and found it very helpful. We share information with each
other, and in our own field, though were busy, we listen to each others
opinions on the site and are exchanging information. In addition to that,
we often talk on the phone and ask questions and work together. From
meeting the NK teachers, we hear a lot of information about NK escap-
ees, and it is really helpful for fostering self-development (May 12, 2011,
C3).

Accordingly, the participants saw that the training program for NK teach-
ers helped not only with the formation of the community but also with
providing concrete help for the participants career records as well. That is,
attending the training course will not simply be a small contribution to the
lives of NK teachers living in SK society. In an environment where ones
work experiences had not been recognized, they expected that having
attended training run by an institution that holds the confidence of the
public will help in the recognition of their abilities. The participants often
showed appreciation toward KEDI because it offered an official and
recordable program for the NK teachers, as noted in an excerpt from a
May interview:

We dont have anything to put on our resumes, of course. But even if we

just put that we attended the NKTA, its a really major help. Were doing
80 KOREA JOURNAL / WINTER 2015

the Korean Educational Development Institutes NKTA training, and we

receive assistance from the nation and it teaches NK escapee students,
but when others look at it, they really think its a volunteer service pro-
gram (May 13, 2011, C4).

In short, the NK teachers characterized the NKTA program as a beneficial

source of power and initiative that would lead them to flourish with regard
to their career competence in the field of education in South Korea. The
program seemed to have provided a chance to establish a voluntary NK
teachers community, which contributed enormously in helping the partici-
pants adjust to SK society through cooperating with and supporting one
another in a practical way, by providing a sense of belonging, a feeling of
unity, and a spirit of community based on their past experiences in North
Korea.

Conclusion

After the NKTA programs the interviewees pointed to the importance of

actively applying the cumulative work experiences NK escapees acquired
in North Korea. Of course, NK escapees each had different work experi-
ences when they came to South Korea, but the percentage of them who
made use of their prior work experiences in the South was not high. As the
participants in this study stated, the NK teachers, who had been working
unrelated to the profession to which they had been employed in North
Korea found the opportunity to work as education experts in SK society by
participating in the NKTA program. They definitively understood what
differed between the South and North Korean educational systems and
advanced their teaching competence as required within the education
milieu in South Korea. They made use of their teaching experience from
North Korea to teach NK escapee students. Additionally, they were able to
discover a new meaning in life. For example, some of the NK teachers vol-
unteered to support the NK students in schools or tutored them one-on-
one. In doing so, they overcame the devaluation in self-worth they experi-
The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 81

enced in South Korea and displayed a new attitude toward life. This kind
of change was helpful not only to their work skills but also to recuperating
their psychological identity. Moreover, the NK teachers the researchers
met showed a characteristic typical of adult learners that the most effective
learning occurs when new learning is based on previous work and study
experiences (Faulstich and Zeuner 1999).
As witnessed in the interview transcripts and our analyses, the NK
teachers achieved meaningful results by studying content related to their
studies and work experiences in North Korea. Based on having been edu-
cated and having worked as teachers and through the process of compar-
ing and analyzing the content of their new and previous studies, they very
rapidly learned the required knowledge and skills to adapt to SK society.
As a consequence of the analysis presented in this paper, some policy
implications and recommendations for supporting the adaptation of NK
teachers and escapees and going one step further, North Koreans in a uni-
fied Korea after reunification of the two countries in SK society, can be
drawn as follows:
First, educational opportunities for the social adaptation of NK escap-
ees should be provided in consideration of their past career experiences in
North Korea. Currently, no regular and systematic education is available
when they finish the three-month training program in Hanawon. After
being discharged from Hanawon, regional resettlement and mastery of job
qualifications became the full extent of the remaining training programs.
Notably, the short-term oriented adaptation programs in Hanawon
and Hana Center are planned and conducted generally without consider-
ation of the occupational experiences of the NK escapees back in North
Korea. To help NK escapees achieve a successful adaptation, many quality
programs should be provided for long-term education in order for them to
actively use their past learning and career experiences in South Korea.
Second, new adaptation programs and policies stimulating the learn-
ing motives of NK escapees should be developed. By attending the NKTA
program, the NK teachers started to recognize the importance of learning
to develop their vocational competencies and skills. On the basis of such a
desire for learning, they made an effort to improve their capabilities as
82 KOREA JOURNAL / WINTER 2015

educational experts, and some of them even decided to continue their

education and training in the graduate schools. Basically, their participa-
tion in various educational programs and studying in graduate schools
has significant meaning in many respects, like adapting productively to
SK society, building social networks, and improving individual career
competence. From this point of view, that the programs are very neces-
sary for promoting the learning motives of the North Koreans is more
remarkable, which is why NK residents in a unified Korean society also
need to engage in a resocialisation program in the future, considering that
their learning motivation will play a crucial role in the process of adapting
to a new environment.
Third, more practical training programs for the NK escapees are nec-
essary. The NKTA program tried to provide the NK teachers necessary,
concrete, and practical information as well as hands-on knowledge by
using various forms of field experience. Still, the participants continuously
show their strong desire to take part in some training programs, observe
certain educational undertakings, or even work in different educational
schools and institutions. Undoubtedly, they believe these experiences
could bring about a more productive and powerful means of achieving
their goals towards learning advancement, which shows that learning
methods for a program to resocialise NK escapees and NK people in a uni-
fied Korean society should be planned. Instead of simply focusing on theo-
retical knowledge in lectures, practical fieldwork, empirical analysis, and
observations are necessary.
Fourth, the resocialization program for the NK escapees should be
connected with learning, practical training, and employment opportuni-
ties for credible application. Some of the participants of the NKTA pro-
gram gained opportunities to work as one-on-one tutors and assistant
teachers in public schools, which indeed helped them improve their voca-
tional competencies. Such a specific, goal-oriented, learning process moti-
vated them to engage in the program intensively. Therefore, policy makers
are advised to design and develop social adaptation programs to offer an
overall road map in the course of learning, practice, and professional spe-
cialization and employment for NK escapees.
The Effectiveness of a Program to Train North Korean Teachers to Adjust to South Korean Society 83

Fifth, supporting the formation of communities in SK society for NK

escapees is necessary. For those who have not yet built new personal net-
works in South Korea, interacting with other people facing the same strug-
gles to adapt as they have tends to be very helpful for stabilizing their men-
tal states and exchanging information.
Considering the very diverse prior work history of the NK escapees,
forming communities based on common difficulties and aspirations
appears necessary. As it emerged from the interviews, the NK teachers
gained motivation for studying and practical help for adapting through
their community. Moreover, they received encouragement through their
community and gained a sense of psychological and emotional stability
from the process of sharing similar difficulties, which means that the poli-
cy to support the building of NK escapee communities is very significant
for helping them in solving obstacles that can arise in their everyday lives.
In addition, supporting them in building their community is imperative in
order to stimulate their learning motives as reflected in the mutual reci-
procity practiced by members of the community.

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