SONG, Jiyoung

Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University

Singapore Management UniversityInstitutional Knowledge at Singapore Management UniversityResearch Collection School of Social Sciences School of Social Sciences6-2013The complexity of North Korean migrationJiyoung SONGSingapore Management University, jysong@smu.edu.sgFollow this and additional works at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_researchPart of the Asian Studies Commons, and the Political Science CommonsThis Magazine Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Social Sciences at Institutional Knowledge at Singapore ManagementUniversity. It has been accepted for inclusion in Research Collection School of Social Sciences by an authorized administrator of InstitutionalKnowledge at Singapore Management University. For more information, please email libIR@smu.edu.sg.CitationSONG, Jiyoung, "The complexity of North Korean migration" (2013). Research Collection School of Social Sciences. Paper 1460.https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1460Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1460THE COMPLEXITY OF NORTH KOREAN MIGRATION Asia Pacific Memo, Memo #229, JUNE 6, 2013 http://www.asiapacificmemo.ca/the-complexity-of-north-korean-migration  By Jiyoung Song   Just imagine you’re a North Korean living in a small village. You have no one to compare your condition with. One day, you hear about people who’ve fled to China who are now well off. Some even go to South Korea, a place you know about from smuggled DVDs. You know that if caught, you could be sent to prison and beaten by guards. If successful, such migration promises a better life. In most North Korean migration cases, negative push factors such as absence of political freedom and economic opportunities in North Korea combine with positive pull factors in China of food, temporary shelter by NGOs and Christian missionaries, chances to go to South Korea and refugee status. These push and pull factors, together with factors that facilitate irregular migration, form a self-organizing complex adaptive system, analogous to osmosis in biochemistry. Unlike molecules, however, humans have conscience, norms and identities. Over 2,000 North Koreans have been arriving in South Korea every year since 2006, with 70% being female.  Most use China-Southeast Asia routes, operated by transnational smuggling networks. Thailand serves as the main transit country, although the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar are also used. The boundaries between human trafficking, people smuggling and the flight of refugees are blurred. For example, a North Korean woman I interviewed in Bangkok had been sold as a bride to a Chinese farmer. She later paid a group of Korean-Chinese smugglers to move her to Thailand. In Bangkok, she claimed refugee status. Her story of transformation is not unique: the identities of North Korean women migrants shift along their journey. Contributing to the complex picture are political tensions and trade relations among the countries involved, as well as the involvement of NGOs and missionaries. Still, the key actors are North Koreans themselves. In contrast to the passive victimized image of North Korean defectors, such migrants are increasingly informed, adaptive and resilient. The complexity of North Korean migration cannot be explained by the linear conceptual frameworks generally used in the field of migration or international relations. Network theory, complex adaptive systems, self-organization or emergence in complexity theory offer better theoretical frameworks and methodological tools for studying irregular migration. Song Jiyoung is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the School of Social Sciences of the Singapore Management University. Her current book project focuses on the nexusing complexity theory.  us between irregular migration and human security in East Asia, 

The complexity of North Korean migration

Singapore Management University 
Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 
Research Collection School of Social Sciences School of Social Sciences 
6-2013 
The complexity of North Korean migration 
Jiyoung SONG 
Singapore Management University, jysong@smu.edu.sg 
Follow this and additional works at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research 
 Part of the Asian Studies Commons, and the Political Science Commons 
Citation 
SONG, Jiyoung, "The complexity of North Korean migration" (2013). Research Collection School of Social 
Sciences. Paper 1460. 
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1460 
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1460 
This Magazine Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Social Sciences at Institutional 
Knowledge at Singapore Management University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Research Collection School 
of Social Sciences by an authorized administrator of Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University. 
For more information, please email library@smu.edu.sg. 
THE COMPLEXITY OF NORTH KOREAN MIGRATION 
Asia Pacific Memo, Memo #229, JUNE 6, 2013 
http://www.asiapacificmemo.ca/the-complexity-of-north-korean-migration  
By Jiyoung Song  
 
Just imagine you’re a North Korean living in a small village. You have no one to compare your condition with. 
One day, you hear about people who’ve fled to China who are now well off. Some even go to South Korea, a 
place you know about from smuggled DVDs. You know that if caught, you could be sent to prison and beaten by 
guards. If successful, such migration promises a better life. 
In most North Korean migration cases, negative push factors such as absence of political freedom and economic 
opportunities in North Korea combine with positive pull factors in China of food, temporary shelter by NGOs and 
Christian missionaries, chances to go to South Korea and refugee status. These push and pull factors, together 
with factors that facilitate irregular migration, form a self-organizing complex adaptive system, analogous to 
osmosis in biochemistry. Unlike molecules, however, humans have conscience, norms and identities. 
Over 2,000 North Koreans have been arriving in South Korea every year since 2006, with 70% being female.  
Most use China-Southeast Asia routes, operated by transnational smuggling networks. Thailand serves as the 
main transit country, although the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar are also used. The boundaries 
between human trafficking, people smuggling and the flight of refugees are blurred. For example, a North 
Korean woman I interviewed in Bangkok had been sold as a bride to a Chinese farmer. She later paid a group of 
Korean-Chinese smugglers to move her to Thailand. In Bangkok, she claimed refugee status. Her story of 
transformation is not unique: the identities of North Korean women migrants shift along their journey. 
Contributing to the complex picture are political tensions and trade relations among the countries involved, as 
well as the involvement of NGOs and missionaries. Still, the key actors are North Koreans themselves. In contrast 
to the passive victimized image of North Korean defectors, such migrants are increasingly informed, adaptive 
and resilient. 
The complexity of North Korean migration cannot be explained by the linear conceptual frameworks generally 
used in the field of migration or international relations. Network theory, complex adaptive systems, self-
organization or emergence in complexity theory offer better theoretical frameworks and methodological tools 
for studying irregular migration. 
Song Jiyoung is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the School of Social Sciences of the Singapore Management 
University. Her current book project focuses on the nex
using complexity theory. 
 
us between irregular migration and human security in East Asia, 


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https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2716&amp;context=soss_research

The complexity of North Korean migration

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