Leisure during the Escape and Adaption in South Korea: A Life Story of a North Korean Adolescent Defector

Abstract

The objective of this study, which employed a life history method, was to examine an adolescent North Korean defector’s leisure during his defection and adaptation to life in South Korea. Data were obtained by employing individual in-depth interviews and an analysis of his YouTube videos. The findings revealed that leisure opportunities during his stay in China were limited due to fear of deportation. Leisure and sport in South Korea helped the defector to selectively acculturate and adapt by exposing him to new recreation opportunities, helping to establish social networks with South Korean peers, obtain social support, and develop his ethnic identity and a sense of belonging. Even after years of residing in South Korea, the defector retained his North Korean identity and pride in his ethnic heritage. A model of the roles of leisure in refugee adaptation was developed based on the findings of the study.

Keywords:

• Adaptation
• leisure
• North Korean defector
• selective acculturation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The term “defector” has no clear definition and, in some cases, means a “refugee,” as defined in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and, in others, any North Korean who has escaped their home country without an official permit (Ko et al., 2004).

2. This section is purposely kept short and vague to protect information on the escape routes, means, and facilitators of North Korean defectors.

3. According to Stodolska et al. (2017), “Sociocultural adaptation involves the acquisition of culturally appropriate skills and knowledge needed to negotiate effective interactions, “fit into” the new social or cultural milieu (Masgoret & Ward, 2006; Sam, 2006), and “manage daily life in the new cultural context” (Berry, 2003, p. 32) … Positive interactions with the host population are a necessary condition for sociocultural adaptation as they allow immigrants to “acquire, improve, and eventually master their intercultural expertise in a new cultural milieu” (Masgoret & Ward, 2006, p. 70)” (p. 477).

4. Psychological adaptation refers to “psychological and emotional well-being and satisfaction” (Sam, p. 17, in Stodolska et al., 2017, p. 477).