Abstract
Young adult North Korean defectors (hereafter, North Korean millennials [NKMs]) are a growing and distinctive group. Even though they constitute the majority of defectors and show different characteristics from previous generations, relatively little attention has been paid to NKMs in both academic and practical areas. Specifically, little is known about how NKMs develop their career paths in South Korea. This study examines the process of NKMs’ career development activities, focusing on their challenges, structural tensions (contradictions) within the activities, and their learning from the process of resolving difficulties under the lens of cultural–historical activity theory (CHAT). This ethnographic study not only broadens understandings about NKMs but also elucidates their career development situation in South Korea. The findings of this study provide meaningful and practical suggestions to create a road map of career development for NKMs and implications for career development of migrants, refugees, and internally displaced persons.
Keywords
“This study explored how NKMs develop their careers in South Korean society, resolve difficulties, and learn in career development activities.”
North Korean defectors (NKDs) are a growing population in South Korea, and young adult defectors (hereafter, North Korean millennials [NKMs]) form a distinctive group. NKMs are defined as those who were born in the 1980s and 1990s and were children and teenagers in the era following the death of Kim Il-sung—the first supreme leader of North Korea. Following his death, a drastic transformation in North Korea occurred, described as marketization from below through black markets (Haggard & Noland, 2011; Lankov, 2012; Y. Park, 2014).
As the generation experiencing the collapse of the state–socialist economy, NKMs have characteristics distinct from previous NKDs who have memories of a monolithic state-controlled society under the leadership. NKMs suffered from a great famine, disease, and sickness in their childhood caused by the collapse of food distribution from the government. This may lead them to lose their belief in and loyalty toward the government (Haggard & Noland, 2011; Kretchun & Kim, 2012; Lankov, 2012; S. Park, 2013).
The country’s changing political and economic situation allowed NKMs to become a more market-friendly, individualized generation. NKMs began to actively participate in informal economic activities through black markets (Kretchun & Kim, 2012). This generation found their own ways to survive under the widespread destruction of food reserve and harvest, leading NKMs to have a stronger desire to support their life by their own efforts than the previous generation of NKDs (Yoon, 2016).
These characteristics may lead NKMs toward different types of career development beyond merely adjusting to South Korean society. However, few studies have focused on NKMs to better understand this emerging population; instead, they have primarily focused on NKDs’ adjustment issues in general. Also, since the North and the South are technically at war and the divided situation between the North and the South has been maintained for 70 years, South Koreans tend to feel differences and have hostility to NKDs, seeing them in the same light as North Korean government (Shin, 2009). It entails challenging situations for NKMs to live in South Korean society. Therefore, this study examined the process of NKMs’ career development activities, focusing on their challenges, structural conflicts within the activities, and learning from the process of resolving the difficulties through the lens of the cultural–historical activity theory (CHAT). The research questions of this study are threefold: (a) How do NKMs develop their careers in South Korea? (b) What challenges and structural conflicts (contradictions) do they face in career development activities? (c) How do they resolve the difficulties and what do they learn in career development activities?
Career Development of NKDs in South Korea
The initial step of NKDs’ career development is based on the government support system. The resettlement aid programs for NKDs intend to provide a base for livelihood in the South Korean society through employment assistance, asset building, and education support. However, the programs could offer opportunities for NKDs to plan their future career paths as well. In actual, NKDs can acquire free vocational training and grants to aid them in finding jobs. To develop employment for NKDs and strengthen their competence, South Korean government has been operating diverse educational courses such as Basic Adaptive Vocational Training, Career Counseling, and the Life-Design Program (Ministry of Unification, 2019). In addition, if NKDs seek to enter South Korean universities, they can use special admission opportunities and are eligible to receive tuition waivers (Ministry of Unification, 2020).
The types of NKDs’ career development depend on their age in general. While children and youth NKDs tend to set their career goal through academic achievement (Ryoo et al., 2017), adult NKDs focus on employment (E. S. Cho, 2012; I. Cho et al., 2020). The current studies made effort to uncover the NKDs’ career development matter in the South. However, they provided the fragmentary aspects of NKDs’ career issue. The studies missed to review the entire NKDs’ career development phenomenon in South Korean society, focusing only on NKDs’ educational achievement or employment outcomes. Also, they overlooked the distinctive population group, the millennials who are in the adult-aged group but has greater passion for self-development through education (Korea Hana Foundation, 2015) like the youth group. In addition, many of the discussions treat NKDs as a passive object of being adjusted to the South, not an active subject in career development (Y. H. Kim & Shin, 2014; Y. T. Kim & Bae, 2010; J. Lee, 2012; Y. Park, 2009). By emphasizing NKDs’ challenges in the South, these discussions focus on NKDs’ lack of competence in the capitalistic society. NKDs’ previous working, learning, and living experiences are seen to be negative factors hampering their career development in the South. This perspective attributes the blame to individual NKDs who need to be improved to be competitive citizens in South Korean society. It addressed the needs of this study to examine the process of NKMs’ career development in South Korea with a different perspective.
Theoretical Framework: Cultural–Historical Activity Theory
CHAT describes human learning and development occurring in everyday circumstances by using the concept of activity. CHAT grounds its analysis of daily activities in culturally and historically situated action (Engeström, 2001; Leont’ev, 1978; Sawchuk, 2013). As a unit of analysis, activity is defined as relations with other people and with the natural world. The scope of analysis needs to “be extended from tasks to a meaningful context of [a] subject’s interaction with the world, including the social context” (Kaptelinin & Nardi, 2006, p. 34).
Engeström (2015) described the activity (or activity system) as a triangular model with seven components: subject, object, tool, rules, community, division of labor, and outcome. Subject refers to an individual or group participating in an activity. Object is the underlying goal or entity leading to the activity. Tool signifies mediating artifacts such as instruments or signs arbitrating the subject’s acquisition of the object. Rules refer to explicit or implicit laws, norms, or customs. Community refers to a large number of individuals or groups sharing the same objective in carrying out and participating in an activity. Division of labor indicates a horizontally divided task shared among members of the community or among various participants of the activity and the roles and responsibilities that are vertically divided by power and status (Dochy et al., 2011; Engeström, 2015). Figure 1 clearly indicates the activity as a triangular model.
Structure of human activity.
Using the model of a human activity system, this study focuses on the subset of activities that relate to NKMs’ career development. It examines how NKMs as the subject interact with mediating artifacts to achieve the object of their career development activities and explores what kinds of tools and signs, rules, community, and division of labor are used as mediating artifacts.
CHAT examines learning and the process of extending learning with the concept of contradiction. According to Engeström (2001), “contradictions are historically accumulating structural tensions within and between activity systems” (p. 137). Although causing obstruction and conflict, contradiction allows innovative attempts to develop an activity (Engeström, 2008). When the conflicts are sufficiently expressed among the members, expansive learning can occur through continual adjustment and negotiation (Fenwick, 2010). In this regard, contradiction plays an important role as a major source of change to and development catalyst of action systems (Engeström, 2008).
CHAT allows the researchers systemically and comprehensively to analyze everyday learning grounded in historical and sociocultural situations. Current adult learning theories and researches fail to explain sociocultural learning phenomena by primarily focusing on individual learning, cognitive or psychological changes based on dualism, and formal educational settings (Dewey, 1938; Freire, 1970; Knowles, 1970; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Mezirow, 1996). However, CHAT overcomes these limitations by providing the concept of activity as the unit of analysis. CHAT regards learning as occurring in a sociocultural context in the activities of daily living situations including formal, non-formal, and informal settings with understanding about the social level of learning through the concept of activity.
In this sense, CHAT provides useful conceptual tools for the researchers to explore the learning of people who experience a transition in living context, such as migrants, refugees, and internally displaced persons. Through diverse social interactions, they learn a new language, new social systems, and new cultural values to adapt to their new social context. In addition, their histories and cultures play an important role in shaping and constituting their learning and experiences. Learning in the new living context is not just for accumulating intellectual knowledge about the society and culture. Rather, it is critical both to their survival and to earning a livelihood in their new situation. Accordingly, the research focusing on the population of migrants, refugees, and internally displaced persons in the adult education arena employed CHAT as a theoretical framework in examining their daily learning (e.g., Campbell, 2014; Gnanadass, 2016; J. Kim, 2014; H. Park, 2010). By using CHAT, then, this study can explain the complex and evolving learning and career development process of NKMs in South Korean practices. In addition, the study will examine how South Korean cultural and historical elements work in the activity systems.
Method
NKMs receive little attention from researchers with academic understandings, calling for in-depth ethnographic studies dealing with NKMs’ life, culture, and characteristics, beyond the descriptive reports about them (Creswell, 2007). Therefore, this study used ethnographic research for investigating an NKM group, to expand the limited knowledge about young adult NKDs in South Korea. To examine the career development activities of NKMs within their daily lives in South Korea, this study used ethnographic tools in a compressed time mode (Jeffrey & Troman, 2004). While I lived with an NKM for 3 months, I recruited research participants through snowball sampling. Among the NKMs I met, I selected 11 who fit the sampling criteria: (a) NKDs who were born from 1985 to 1994 and (b) who have clear memories of their previous life before coming to the South and their initial experiences in the South. The sample comprised three men and eight women ranging in age from 22 to 30 years with a period of residence in South Korea from 2 to 13 years. Their occupations were diverse: two were employed, one was between jobs, one studied high school degree courses at an alternative school, five were college students, and two were graduate students. I received the consent form from all of the research participants.
The data were mainly collected through participant observation and formal and informal interviews. The observation was based on the NKMs’ daily lives in South Korea. Living with my roommate enabled me to observe her daily routines. My participation within her life was overt (Patton, 1990). I met NKMs almost every day for 3 months and focused on observing their social interactions. I was somewhat worried to raise their antipathy about my intention to access them, because I thought the intended access could make them uncomfortable. So, I honestly revealed my concerns to them and asked the oral consent about my work before observing them. I met them casually by watching movies, chatting, going shopping, and spending time at their houses. Sometimes I taught them English and helped with their school assignments. I participated in the social activities of their groups, such as churches and study groups. Interviews were formally conducted with semi-structured, open-ended interviews about their life in the South and informally implemented as natural conversations.
The data were analyzed in NVivo using initial, focused, and axial coding (Charmaz, 2006) based on CHAT. First, I conducted line-by-line coding. Next, I selected codes indicating NKMs actions in daily life and the sociocultural and historical mediations that influenced their social interactions within activities. Furthermore, the challenges and difficulties NKMs faced in their activities were considered. Final themes were primarily connected to the elements of activity in CHAT. Even though there were numerous activities the NKMs revealed, I focused only on the activities related to a career in my analysis.
Findings: Career Development Activities
In this study, two activities were reviewed for NKMs’ career development in the South: Education participation activity and self-development activity. Of course, there were more activities within NKMs’ daily life but I selected two to focus on examining the process of their career development and learning.
Education Participation Activity
The NKMs’ first activity to develop a career in South Korea was education participation. After leaving Hanawon, the educational institute in which NKDs first stay after passing the background check, all the NKMs began to join in education activities; three entered regular schools, six entered alternative schools for NKDs, one obtained vocational training, and one began to prepare for the Gumjunggosi (school qualification exam) by himself.
Each NKM had different goals and reasons for participating in education, but their actions converged in the same direction: to get by in South Korea. That is, the NKMs’ fundamental motive to participate in education in their early days within South Korean society was to get support themselves in the South. As Eun-hee said,
When I arrived in South Korea, I realized that everyone could study regardless of age. Difference in knowledge levels and educational gaps were very large . . . I realized that people lived very competitively. So, I decided to study like others to survive . . . at least follow their life. In order to do so, I needed to study. So, I decided to study . . . Wherever I went, people were educated, even workers at stores. Everyone I met had a bachelor’s degree . . . and many people emphasized learning to me.
The object was related to their survival matters in South Korean society. To live life at least like others in the credentialist and capitalism-centered South Korean society, where the majority of adults have advanced degrees—70% of South Koreans aged 25 to 34 years have a college degree (OECD, 2017)—the NKMs who lost opportunities to learn in their childhood necessarily had to earn diplomas and find their own financial resources. The need for not only adjusting to but also surviving in the society led them to schools, vocational training, and ways to obtain education qualification as their first step of career development.
To get by in South Korea, the NKMs participated in education through interacting with South Korean sociocultural mediations, such as diverse supporting systems (e.g., alternative schools for NKDs, education grants, vocational education, employment aid), academic or vocational education, South Korean law for NKDs, and local community members (e.g., teachers at schools, public officials at the government agency, other South Koreans). Indeed, various support systems exist for NKDs’ first resettlement, such as basic settlement funding, housing fund, free vocational training and employment subsidies, and special college admission and tuition support (Ministry of Unification, 2020). Education participation activity is clearly indicated in Figure 2.
Education participation activity.
Self-Development Activity
At first, NKMs participated in education without significant forethought as to what they hoped to learn after graduation and how it could prepare them for a career. They participated in an effort to get by in and to adjust to South Korea. As time went on, however, they began to focus on self-development and seek practical career paths.
The NKMs engaged in personal reflection, explored career directions, participated in postsecondary education, and went abroad to help them develop their careers. It directed “self-development activity” with the object, to advance lives and careers. Ki-soon explained,
When I passed the middle school qualification exam, I began to think “I should study properly and go to college!” From then on, I contemplated about my career a lot. “What will I do?” I thought the reason I study shouldn’t be just for entering college, but for something beyond graduation. Such thought made me want to make a connection between what I want to do after college and what I do in college. “What will I do?” “What should be my major?” “What should I study?” I mulled over it a lot. I spent about a year thinking about it.
In-Kyu also mentioned,
I did not fall behind in classes. I am a hard worker and I do my best. My main concern was always about getting higher test scores. After I came to a capitalism society, I became a capitalist whose main concern is about my own benefits. It’s a little hard to say, but I followed money like an idiot. One day, it came to mind that I don’t want to live like this. So, I decided to go abroad. I thought if I were in another country, I could see my current situation and how I was living.
Self-development activity as a triangular model is clearly indicated in Figure 3. In self-development activity, NKMs sought help from mediators to develop their competencies, such as South Korean laws pertaining to NKD support, diverse aid organizations for NKDs, and community members. The NKMs acted to improve their own life quality and develop career directions.
Self-development activity.
Contradictions in Career Development Activities
The contradictions as structural tensions in career development activities that the NKMs faced stemmed from different education system, lack of resources to understand the South Korean system, and low competitiveness in the South Korean competition system.
Different Education System
The first contradiction was caused by the different educational systems within different sociocultural backgrounds between the North and South. For the NKMs, the most challenging aspect they faced was not knowing English. In South Korean society, English is frequently used, whereas North Korea stresses the original Korean language. Moreover, English is a required course in schools, which means NKMs who had never studied English experience difficulties following the classes. For instance, Pyung-soo said he could only understand 10% of the lectures in his English class and he could not speak a word. The language barrier affected NKMs’ learning and career development in terms of their educational achievement and psychological condition, including their perception of self-efficacy.
In addition, different curricula between the North and the South discouraged NKMs and affected their self-esteem. For example, the South Korean educational system made Ki-soon take the elementary school qualification exam, even though she graduated from an elementary school in the North. Gye-hwa was very surprised when she first took an exam in South Korea, which was very different from the exam she used to take in the North. Jung-hye was shocked and lost confidence when she first took the exam because, even though she studied hard, she received a poor grade.
Over-age classroom placement is another factor that caused difficulties for NKMs within their school lives. The North Korean educational system is mostly collapsed and the NKMs were deprived of education while they were in the North and during the transit period in the third countries. Therefore, it was difficult for them to be placed in their age-appropriate grade level. Gye-hwa, In-kyu, and Jung-hye, who entered regular schools in the South, were placed in lower grades with younger students. It was uncomfortable for them to form friendships with their younger peers. Considering the meaning of age in Asian culture, over-age classroom placement causes stress when adjusting to school life. In-kyu stated that he felt shame when he was placed in a younger learning level, and it hurt his pride.
Lack of Resources to Understand the South Korean System
Even though the NKMs struggled to advance their life and career with self-development activity, they often faced difficulties from their unfamiliarity with the ways to set their career paths and their lack of understanding about South Korean society. NKMs grew up in the social context of North Korea in which occupations were assigned rather than chosen, and they are not familiar with actively searching for information (Y. Park, 2009). Even though various support systems exist to institutionally help NKMs’ career development within the South Korean government system (e.g., special college admission system), NKMs often do not know specific ways to achieve their career plans. Moreover, NKMs who moved to new living situations do not have sufficient scaffolding to guide their career (Y. Park, 2009; Yu et al., 2013).
For Ki-soon, even though she entered a university with a dream to be a Korean teacher, she realized afterward the university does not provide a teacher education program. To continue on this path, she transferred to another university to take teacher education in her junior year, but this was not possible because juniors were not admitted to teacher education programs. Ultimately, the lack of information about the South Korean higher education system discouraged her from achieving her career plan.
Low Competitiveness in the South Korean Competition System
The criteria of competition already established within South Korean society created another obstacle for NKMs in their self-development activity. For instance, as they entered university, NKMs had to compete with other South Korean students under the same criteria of competition. Even though they receive admission through the special admission system for NKDs, after entering the school, there is no exception in competitions within the classes. For example, Bo-mi learned English in a foreign country and had confidence in English before she entered university. However, when she took the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), which is a typical English test most South Korean students take to apply for internships or jobs, she received a very low score. She was not familiar with this type of examination. She had never studied like other South Korean students and it made her less competitive in this environment. The NKMs, who had never trained fiercely like South Korean students and were not familiar with the system of competition, unavoidably lagged behind their peers, which was another challenge to achieving their career plans in the society. The reality is that NKMs cannot equally compete within South Korean competition systems, which leads to contradictions in their career development activities.
Resolving Contradictions and Learning
Establishing Strategies to Resolve the Contradictions from Different Education Systems
The NKMs actively sought ways to strategically overcome the difficulties of the different educational systems between the North and South. In-kyu and Jung-hye, who entered regular schools and experienced difficulties from over-age classroom placement, developed their own tactics to resolve this problem. In-kyu transferred to an athletic special school to be more competitive in athletic competitions than his younger peers, which helped him recover his confidence. Jung-hye quit school and prepared for the school qualification exams by herself, after which she was able to skip 2 years of schooling and enter college with students her own age.
To overcome their lack of English proficiency, many of the NKMs went abroad and took language training programs. In South Korean society, English is regarded as one of the most important and basic skills to develop careers and find decent jobs (J. S. Kim & Bang, 2017) and it actually plays essential role in advancing careers to South Korean people (Brown et al., 2019). Bo-mi went to the Philippines and In-kyu went to Australia. Pyung-soo went to England, and Jung-hye studied English in the United States. NKMs actively resolved their language difficulties by spending large amounts of time and money to study English, even if it meant they had to go to another country.
The NKMs aggressively set strategies to achieve their goals by themselves and became active subjects in learning independent living skills in their new situation.
Finding a New Role to Alleviate the Hardship for the Next Generation of Defectors
The consistent difficulties brought upon by societal differences gave NKMs new insights about the necessity of reducing the gaps they repeatedly met while living in the South. They suggested ways to address difficulties caused by sociocultural differences based upon their own experiences.
Jung-hye considered the ways to resolve the problems emerging from NKDs’ lack of understanding about the South Korean system and the absence of scaffolding. She decided to share her experiences in the South with other younger NKDs, not only to provide them with more information about the South Korean systems but also to encourage them by working as scaffolding. To accomplish this, Jung-hye began to work as a volunteer teacher at alternative schools for NKDs and shared her stories with other younger NKDs.
While NKMs experienced contradictions in their self-development activity, they worked out their own salvation by establishing a new role to share their experiences and encourage other newly arriving NKDs in an effort to alleviate the hardships they will inevitably face. As such, they learned how to act as scaffolding for other NKDs.
According to Stryker (1968, 1980, 1991), by designing their own positions and roles, people not only designate their own role at the structural position but also perceive the broader situations. In this regard, having new roles act as scaffolding to enable NKMs to broaden their perspectives and consider new positions and roles. In fact, they began to designate their roles, considering the life and career of the entire group of NKDs beyond an individual level of self-development. By suggesting alternative ways to mitigate the challenges not only for themselves but also for the next new-coming NKD generation, the NKMs began to consider how to advance the entire NKD group’s life and career.
Using the NKD Distinctiveness as Competitiveness
To overcome the challenges from their unavoidable low competitiveness within the South Korean competition system, the NKMs found new weapons against the competition. They converted their thoughts about the NKD distinctiveness to one of competitiveness to advance their life and career. The fact they are NKDs entailed difficulties in their everyday life activities, but they changed their perspective to see it as a resource to resolve the contradictions in their self-development activity and improve their competitiveness. In Ki-soon’s case, when she could not enroll in the teacher education programs to realize her career plan, she changed direction. While majoring in Korean literature in university instead, Ki-soon perceived the differences in contemporary literature between the North and South and set another career direction:
While I studied Korean literature, I realized that contemporary literatures are totally different between the North and the South. It is almost impossible to consider them as the same genre of literatures. In the North, all literatures have the purpose of praising. Introduction, complications, and climax are different, but the resolution is always the same: praising the Kim family or loyalty to the government. So, if once reunified, how can we teach literature? It is impossible to teach North Korean literatures to South Koreans, but South Korean literatures can’t be taught immediately to North Koreans either. Not only will North Koreans not understand them but also, we should not teach them in a unilateral manner. I was concerned about these issues.
She realized that she is the only person who can discern the differences between the literature of the North and the South as a South Korean student coming from the North. Thus, she decided to develop an integrated curriculum for both North and South Korean literature education as her new career path. That is, she applied her distinctiveness as an NKD to her own competitiveness in career development. Ki-soon accepted the NKD identity as one of uniqueness and this encouraged her to feel more competent in the South Korean competition system. She reflected, “I think to myself, ‘I’m the only person who can do this.’ This is not because I have great pride, but because I really think it is necessary.” By doing so, Ki-soon not only gained confidence in what she is doing but also feels the sense of duty to do something as an NKD student in the South.
When NKMs faced challenges in their career development activities, they resolved them in their own ways. Through social interactions within the South Korean context, they learned how to negotiate the contradictions. The process involved resolving the contradictions to reconstruct their identities as a more confident and assertive person who developed their own life and career with competency.
Discussion
The implications from the findings of this study provide meaningful insights for the career development of migrants, refugees, or internally displaced persons. According to current studies dealing with migrants’ or refugees’ career development, many of them experience dramatic downturn such as unemployment and underemployment after relocation (Berger, 2004; Shinnar, 2007; Yakushko et al., 2008). Language difficulties and financial stress also contribute to the pressure these people groups feel as they seek to develop careers (Grzywacz et al., 2005; Yakushko et al., 2008).
This study also revealed the difficulties and structural tensions NKMs face in career development activities. However, it is vital to remember that NKMs learned how to negotiate the challenges through social interactions within the South Korean context, and the study addressed the need to deviate from the fixed perspective of migrants and refugees as problems. Rather, it is better to see their potential and empower them, shifting the perspective to that of seeing and accepting them as people who live with them in one society.
Conclusions and Suggestions
This study explored how NKMs develop their careers in South Korean society, resolve difficulties, and learn in career development activities. Examining the process of the NKMs’ career development allowed us to explore the assumptions made in current discussions of NKDs. That is, current discussions of NKD issues tend to see NKDs as a passive object adjusting to the South by emphasizing NKDs’ challenges (Y. H. Kim & Shin, 2014; Y. T. Kim & Bae, 2010; J. Lee, 2012; Y. Park, 2009). However, the findings of this study showed NKMs are active subjects of learning in the South, continually reviewing ways to develop their careers. By establishing their new identities and roles, NKMs make plans and goals for their future life and career with wide consideration of the issues of national development, such as reunification.
According to McCall and Simmons (1960), legitimating their role identity plays a critical part in leading individuals’ behaviors. In this regard, to address NKMs’ more proactive behaviors for their life and career development, their new identities will need to be legitimated by themselves and by others in the South. In other words, South Korean society needs to practically accept and encourage NKMs’ new role identities and activities, going beyond institutionally providing aid systems for NKDs. So far, most of the activities NKMs participate in for their career development tend to be implemented by South Korean government officials or South Korean civic organizations. In fact, a large proportion of the activities are initiated by South Korean stakeholders, and NKDs are involved in them as passive participants. To promote real social change, though, it is important to trust people and empower them through participative decision-making (Horton, 1990). By encouraging NKMs to share and participate in decision-making within diverse formats, South Koreans can empower NKMs to become a mediator in connecting the North and the South, potentially leading to a changed and reunified Korea in the future. Unfortunately, there are few practical government policies or systems to improve NKMs as professionals for preparing for reunification in South Korea until now. To formulate road map of effective and practical support systems for NKDs’ life and career development in the South, South Korean government need to consider NKMs’ active and aggressive characteristics found from the process of career development, listen to their voices, and involve them in the process of policymaking for NKDs’ career development.
According to Parsons (1909), the government should prioritize sensitivity and consideration toward those who have been disadvantaged in the career development field from the beginning. This consideration is not limited to NKDs but to all groups of people who experience a transition in their living context, including migrants, refugees, and displaced persons. In particular, like NKDs who escaped their home country with extreme danger, political refugees or displaced people crossed the borders with life-threatening risks and experienced vulnerable living status in the new living situations as well (DeLuca et al., 2010). The adult educators who work with the group of people need to not only become the scaffolding to guide their career in new living situations but also carefully listen to their voices and needs, empowering them as a strong, independent and active person who passed all the difficulties on the way of coming to the new living context.
This study not only contributes to providing a broadened understanding of a new generation of NKDs, but it also offers ways to overcome prevailing negative perspectives about NKDs in the South. We should remember that NKMs are not only the emerging population group in South Korean society, but they are also a promising generation with the possibility to play a leading role in achieving future reunification (D. Kim & Oh, 2001; A. Lee, 2015).
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Author Biography
Hyewon Park, PhD, is a senior researcher of the Institute for Education Research at Yonsei University, South Korea. Her research interests are sociocultural approaches to adult learning, socially excluded group’s career development, lifelong learning for social change, and human resource development. She earned her PhD in Lifelong Learning and Adult Education at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.