Vol. 17:1] Emma Poorman 97 North Koreans Defectors in South Korea and Asylum Seekers in the United States: A Comparison Emma Poorman*North Korean defectors are considered citizens of South Korea under the South Korean Constitution, while others that flee violence gain the legal status of “refugee.”North Korean defectors, who attempt to escape one of the worst human rights crises in the world, find themselves in a unique situation. What benefits does this status have? How are refugees typically treated abroad, such as in the United States? This Comment will explore this unique status, how it differs from refugee status in the United States, and the challenges North Korean defectors face in South Korea.*J.D. Candidate, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (2019)
NORTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF HUMAN RIGHT S [2019 98 TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................98 I.THE CURRENT POLITICAL SITUATION –NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA..........99 II.BACKGROUND IN DUAL CITIZENSHIP.......................................................100 III.THE STATUS OF NORTH KOREANS IN SOUTH KOREA COMPARED TO ASYLUM SEEKERS IN THE U.S. ..................................................................102 IV.NORTH KOREAN DEFECTORS ABROAD.....................................................110 CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................112 INTRODUCTIONWe, the people of Korea, proud of a resplendent history and traditions dating from time immemorial . . . having assumed the mission of democratic reform and peaceful unification of our homeland and having determined to consolidate national unity with justice, humanitarianism and brotherly love. . . The Republic of Korea shall seek unification and shall formulate and carry out a policy of peaceful unification based on the principles of freedom and democracy.1This text is from the first paragraph of the South Korean Constitution, and it refers to the aspirational reunification of South and North Korea.2 Its inclusion in the Constitution of South Korea reveals what a foundational concept reunification is to the South Korean people.3Despite South Korea’s stance on reunification, the countries have remained divided for more than seventy years.4Before 1905, the Korean peninsula was united for centuries, ruled by generations of dynastic kingdoms.5Beginning in 1905, Japan occupied the land mass until the end of World War II.6In 1945, the Soviet Union and the United States divided control over the Korean Peninsula, with a communist regime engineered by the Soviet Union in the north and a military government formed by the United States in the south.7The violence of the Korean War, waged from 1950-1953, firmly established North Korea’s adversarial relationship with the United States, which continues today.8Relations between North and South Korea are unique compared to other 1DAEHANMINKUKHUNBEOB[HUNBEOB][CONSTITUTION] pmbl. (S. Kor.). See alsoAdam de Bear, From Sunshine to Storm Clouds: An Examination of South Korea's Policy on North Korea, 23MICH.ST.INT’L L.REV.823, 826 (2015).
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Term
Spring
Professor
AletaG.Breakwell
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