North Korean secondary asylum in the UK

Abstract

The number of North Korean secondary migrants from South Korea has grown markedly in the last ten years. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and participatory observation conducted between 2012-2017, this article explores the motivations for North Korean secondary migration and the role of transnational networks in the migration and settlement trajectory. Our findings suggest that many North Koreans in South Korea feel discriminated against due to their origins, and unable to engage in upward social mobility. We argue that North Korean secondary migration to the United Kingdom (UK) is not a linear process of push and pull factors but a highly reactive and unpredictable one that depends on information fed by brokers. The UK hosts one of the largest communities of North Koreans outside Northeast Asia. Most North Koreans in the UK are secondary asylum seekers from South Korea. Their life in the UK, however, comes with its own set of challenges, some of which mirror co-ethnic or ideological frictions among North Koreans themselves, with the Korean-Chinese, or with South Koreans. This paper contributes to debates on multiple migration, providing a migrant-centric perspective to answer why people who are offered material benefits in the country they arrive in choose to on-migrate to a place where life can be often more challenging.

Factors Associated with Employment Hope among North Korean Defectors in South Korea

“…While China is the first stop for a rough estimate of 60,000 to 300,000 North Korean defectors who have crossed the rivers for freedom and food, the North Koreans are rather seen as irregular economic migrants and not granted the refugee status (Jung et al, 2017). Estimates range broadly between 2,000 and 3,000 North Korean defectors to have settled in the U.K., Canada, the United States, Australia and other EU countries, many of whom sought refugee status through onward migration after initially resettling in South Korea (Song & Bell, 2018).…”

Performing Death and Memory: Ancestral Rites of North Koreans in Exile

“…As the North Korean diaspora has grown in number, it has also reached beyond East Asia. Escapees from the DPRK now live in countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Australia, and Germany, to name a few (Song and Bell, 2018).…”

Traversing: Familial Challenges for Escaped North Koreans

“…Under the ROK's constitution defectors who seek asylum in South Korea are entitled to receive protection and citizenship from the Southern government (Choi, 2018), which the UK government uses to reject applications by those who are suspected of holding ROK citizenship (Watson, 2015). An associated compounding issue is the challenges the Home Office is faced with in distinguishing between 'genuine' and 'bogus' refugees: between those who have already obtained South Korean citizenship; those who seek asylum via a third country outside the two Koreas; and ethnic Korean-Chinese (chosonjok) feigning as North Koreans (Song and Bell, 2018). Resonating this, Park (2015) points out the toughened screening of North Korean asylum applications and a decline in the success rates in the UK since 2008.…”

“…While some research has studied North Korean defectors in the UK (Watson, 2015;Song and Bell, 2018), their lived experiences remain under-researched. In particular, the transnational familial relationships they practise are noticeably under-explored.…”