North Korean Migration
Learn more about: Human Rights Issues in North Korea.
The article explores human rights issues in North Korea and of its migrants who have since escaped the regime. The article is relatively recent, giving a semi modern update to the state of North Korean migrants. The article also deals with the rights of North Korean defectors: legal, political, diplomatic, and social issues surrounding North Korean defectors worldwide. The author of the article argues that the world must have universal protections for North Korean defectors rather than taking advantage of their refugee status. While this article isn’t directly related to the novel, it’s important to reflect the real life issues the main character and those like her have had.
Kang, Jin Woong. “Human Rights and Refugee Status of the North Korean Diaspora.” North Korean Review, vol. 9, no. 2, 2013, pp. 4–17., doi:10.3172/nkr.9.2.4.
Learn more about: Further North Korean Migration Literature.
This article looks into multiple memoirs and reflects upon the long term ideological impact on North Korean female defectors through their memoirs. While this article explores the particular novel, it also compares similar works. The article navigates the issue of girl’s self image between collective and individual self. I believe it is important to look at the ideological effects of North Korea’s regime on the author as well as other defectors.
Martinez Garcia, Ana Belen. “Unearthing the Past: Bringing Ideological Indoctrination to Light in North Korean Girls’ Memoirs.” Academia.edu, 2001, unav.academia.edu/AnaBelenMartinezGarcia
North Korean Immigrants After Defecting
Learn more about: North Korea’s Long Term Psychological Effects.
This article gives a more psychological reflection of North Korean defectors, both through interviews and through defectors own self reflections. In this article, the reader gets a more scientific outlook of North Korean defection, specifically referring to migration to South Korea. Also, it breaks trauma down into multiple categories: physical trauma, family-related trauma, detection and capture related trauma, and betrayal related trauma. This is very important to the author of my book, as within the first and later chapters she reflects on feeling out of place within South Korean society even though it is the closest to her home.
Jeon, Wootaek, et al. “Correlation between Traumatic Events and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among North Korean Defectors in South Korea.” Journal of Traumatic Stress, vol. 18, no. 2, 2005, pp. 147–154., doi:10.1002/jts.20017.
Learn more about: North Koreans in South Korea
Once again, the article tackles the issues of adaptations of North Koreans to South Korean society. However, this article uses interviews to collect data of personal recollections from North Korean defectors now living in South Korea. As the author of the novel has defected from North Korea to South Korea and makes her discomfort and the long term psychological impact of defection and longing for home as forefront themes of her novel, this research is extremely relevant.
Jeon, Woo Taek. “Issues and Problems of Adaptation of North Korean Defectors to South Korean Society: an in-Depth Interview Study with 32 Defectors.” Yonsei Medical Journal, vol. 41, no. 3, 2000, p. 362., doi:10.3349/ymj.2000.41.3.362.
Brooke Minotti ’19