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omonatheydidNearly seven out of 10 North Koreans are satisfied with their lives in South Korea, a government survey showed Friday, following Seoul's efforts to better accommodate the growing number of North Korean refugees.
The survey found 69.3 percent of 7,560 adult North Korean defectors in South Korea are either "very" satisfied or "somewhat" satisfied. An additional 25.7 percent rated their satisfaction as "average" and 4.8 percent say they are either dissatisfied or "very" dissatisfied.
Those who are satisfied with their lives said that is mainly because they get paid for their work here and can do what they want to do, according to the survey.
A joint wedding ceremony for North Korean defectors and multicultural families in South Korea
Many North Korean defectors in the South report that there is no freedom in their communist homeland and they have suffered years of economic difficulties.
The poll found 50.7 percent fled their communist homeland due to food shortages and economic difficulties, while 31.2 percent said they came to South Korea in search of freedom and 26.2 percent because they didn't like the North Korean political system.
More than 23,000 North Korean defectors have settled in South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War and a stream of North Koreans continue to defect to the South.
South Korea broke ground last year to build another resettlement center to help North Korean defectors better adjust to life in the South.
The extensive survey, the first of its kind, was conducted by the North Korean Refugees Foundation between July and August last year.
The foundation is affiliated with South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.
The poll found that 12.1 percent of those capable of working said they were unemployed in 2011, a figure far higher than the average South Korean jobless rate of about 3.4 percent.
The poll also showed that 33.2 percent of the respondents earn less than 1 million won (US$870) per month and 41.3 percent said their monthly income ranged between 1.01 million and 1.51 million won.
The average monthly household income of South Koreans is 3.89 million won, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service, a Web site run by the South Korean government.
The data underscored the fact North Koreans struggle to find decent jobs in the highly competitive South Korean society, despite receiving three months of mandatory resettlement training.
The survey also showed 24.8 percent of defectors married after arriving in the South. Among them, 35.6 percent have Chinese spouses, 34 percent married North Koreans and 27.2 wed South Koreans.
Source: yonhapnews
The survey found 69.3 percent of 7,560 adult North Korean defectors in South Korea are either "very" satisfied or "somewhat" satisfied. An additional 25.7 percent rated their satisfaction as "average" and 4.8 percent say they are either dissatisfied or "very" dissatisfied.
Those who are satisfied with their lives said that is mainly because they get paid for their work here and can do what they want to do, according to the survey.
A joint wedding ceremony for North Korean defectors and multicultural families in South Korea
Many North Korean defectors in the South report that there is no freedom in their communist homeland and they have suffered years of economic difficulties.
The poll found 50.7 percent fled their communist homeland due to food shortages and economic difficulties, while 31.2 percent said they came to South Korea in search of freedom and 26.2 percent because they didn't like the North Korean political system.
More than 23,000 North Korean defectors have settled in South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War and a stream of North Koreans continue to defect to the South.
South Korea broke ground last year to build another resettlement center to help North Korean defectors better adjust to life in the South.
The extensive survey, the first of its kind, was conducted by the North Korean Refugees Foundation between July and August last year.
The foundation is affiliated with South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.
The poll found that 12.1 percent of those capable of working said they were unemployed in 2011, a figure far higher than the average South Korean jobless rate of about 3.4 percent.
The poll also showed that 33.2 percent of the respondents earn less than 1 million won (US$870) per month and 41.3 percent said their monthly income ranged between 1.01 million and 1.51 million won.
The average monthly household income of South Koreans is 3.89 million won, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service, a Web site run by the South Korean government.
The data underscored the fact North Koreans struggle to find decent jobs in the highly competitive South Korean society, despite receiving three months of mandatory resettlement training.
The survey also showed 24.8 percent of defectors married after arriving in the South. Among them, 35.6 percent have Chinese spouses, 34 percent married North Koreans and 27.2 wed South Koreans.
Source: yonhapnews
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Date: 2012-01-13 08:31 pm (UTC)so not only is there more freedom in SK, the food is better!
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Date: 2012-01-14 02:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-14 02:39 am (UTC)1) discrimination
2) little chance to get a decent paying job because of said discrimination + lack of marketable skills (in some cases)
3) language barriers (or in this case, dialect barriers)
4) after the honeymoon phase, culture shock (i feel like it could be worse in this case because they might be expecting it less since it was once one country..but south korea has changed so drastically so quickly.)
no matter how shitty it was to live in north korea, unless you were in a prison camp, you might feel like your life was ok if you were upper-middle class/that was all you knew/you were about as well off as people around you. happiness is generally related to how well off you perceive yourself relative to everyone around you.