Background

North Koreans are fleeing to South Korea and across the border to China; then they defect their citizenship. Their "new" lives are hard to get used to. But at the same time, SEOUL, doesn't want too much defectors due to relations between nations.

Location

Located in the northeastern corner of East Asia, the Korean Peninsula is a peninsula bounded to the north by China and Russia, to the east by the Sea of Japan, west by the Yellow Sea. And bounded to the south by Strait of Korea and East China Sea.

Development

1946 - North Korea's Communist Party (Korean Workers' Party - KWP) inaugurated. Soviet-backed leadership installed, including Red Army-trained Kim Il-sung.

1948 - Democratic People's Republic of Korea proclaimed. Soviet troops withdraw.

1950 - South declares independence, sparking North Korean invasion.

1990s - Young North Korean men for defectors. They would swim or sneak across the border into China.

About 15,000 defectors have settled in the South, with 4,000 arriving in the past 2 years.

Nothing has really changed. Hundreds of North Koreans are brought to South Korea for better living. But the South Korean government doesn't want to have bad relations with North Korea.

Impact

Effects on People: The North Korean defectors aren't used to their new lifestyle such as the food they eat, the language they have to learn and speak, the culture, religion, and their freedom. They are put into special schools to learn and live like the South Koreans.

Effects on Economics: The South Koreans have to provide jobs that fit for them but very difficult due to their lifestyle. Defectors has to pay for their families to be safe that are left behind in North Korea.

Effects on Gov't: The government relations between the South and North Korea will worsen. They are also in charge of providing citizenship and basic needs to those who defected.

TOP 3 CONCERNS

• bad relations between nations
• way of living for the North Koreans
• North Korean spies

Future

If we keep letting North Koreans cross and defecting their citizenships, the relations between North Korea and South Korea will worsen, especially among the governments. But organizations like The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea are actually trying to find solutions for improving rights in North Korea. They've also held meetings in Washington, DC to discuss about this issue. Their main goals are :

1. Broaden United States policy on North Korea include approaches to human rights issues.

2. Persuade China to respect the rights of North Korean refugees.

3. Provide Food Aid that reaches people who are dying in hunger.

4. Provide essential information directly to North Koreans.

5. Provide opportunities and jobs to North Korean defectors to improve their familie's lives.

6. Stop North Korea's poor wealth and poverty.

Big Picture

It's mostly impacts of human geography. North Koreans fled to South Korea and are living in freedom. They have their own schools to learn properly all over again. They are also fearful because they can't speak like the South Koreans or act like them. Before in North Korea, they didn't have freedom but once they came to South Korea, it was a complete new way of living.

It relates most to the concept "Migration" because it's a movement of the North Korean refugees fleeing either across the DMZ line or the border of China for safety and freedom.

Just like North Korea, people in other places may be having the same issues. For example, Hispanic people are crossing the Mexico-United States border for better living while having to pay for their families left behind. Living under communism with no freedom. They learn about only their dictator, Kim Jong Il. They have famines and barely survive. Many people in other countries tries to flee to other nations.

The DMZ line that borders South and North Korea.