| Description |
1 online resource (40 pages) : color map (digital, PDF file) |
| Series |
Crisis Group Asia report ; no. 208 |
|
Crisis Group Asia report ; no. 208
|
| Contents |
Executive summary. -- Introduction. -- Changing policies towards defectors. -- Lessons from Korean history. -- The problems defectors face. -- How defectors join a new society. -- New international initiatives. -- Conclusion. -- Appendices |
| Summary |
During the Cold War, the small number of defections was manageable. The financial and social burden of integrating the mostly skilled defectors was so low as to be nonexistent, while the propaganda value and level of compensation for these defectors were high. However, the end of the Cold War and the rapid increase in the number of defectors, many of them traumatised and destitute, created a number of problems. The difficulties of integrating about 20,000 defectors are a small taste of the problems that the South might experience if there were any sudden reunification with the North. The economic, social, cultural and psychological gulfs between the countries would take decades to close and overwhelm the resources and welcome offered by the South. Defectors are mostly a self-selecting group; the challenges of integrating those in the North who might not welcome reunification with a dominant South are difficult to assess. The South Korean government recognises that a precipitate change in the North would present it with immense problems, but it should not allow such concerns or the occasional threats from Pyongyang on the resettlement of defectors to cloud the need to integrate them in the most effective way possible. Policies need to be devised that insulate the process from political changes and provide the support that is needed |
| Notes |
14 July 2011 |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references |
| Notes |
Title from cover screen (viewed on February 16, 2012) |
|
Mode of access: World Wide Web |
|
System requirements: Adobe Reader |
| Subject |
Refugees -- Korea (South)
|
|
Defectors -- Korea (North)
|
|
Refugees -- Services for -- Korea (South)
|
|
Defectors.
|
|
Refugees.
|
|
Refugees -- Services for.
|
|
Korea (North)
|
|
Korea (South)
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| Author |
International Crisis Group
|
|
