Sung, Kieun and Cho, Sunwoong. (2018). Why Are North Korean Women More Likely to Defect than North Korean Men?. Asian Women, 34(3), 97-118.
1. Introduction
This study shows that gendered defection is an unexpected consequence of North Korean government policies that generate favorable conditions for defection by North Korean females. The interplay between the strict military draft system targeting males and the marketization dominated by females facilitates North Korean women’s mobility and allows them to amass capital. As a result, North Korean women have a greater opportunity to escape from the country than men do. [98-99]
Rather than the gender dynamics developed by sending and receiving countries, a root cause of the feminized pattern lies in a “push force” on the social level and an opportunity on the individual level. [99]
2. Gendered Defection from North Korea
The residential and gender statistics for North Korean defectors from 2002 to 2016 differ significantly from the demographic profile of North Koreans as a whole. North Korean defectors who resided in the Hamgyong Province comprise more than 70% of all North Korean defectors, although the proportion of residents in Hamgyong Province is very small compared to the total North Korean population. [99]
This discrepancy between defectors and North Koreans as a whole reflects an unequal distribution of geographical opportunities to defect. Hamgyong Province, located in the north east part of North Korea, shares a border with China; the border control in this area is more relaxed than elsewhere. Thus, an individual living in Hamgyong Province has a much better opportunity to migrate illegally. [99-100]
3. Prior Studies: Individual and Social-Level Analyses
3.1 Individual-Level Analysis
Studies developed according to an individual-level analysis tried to dem onstrate the key determinants giving rise to an individual North Korean’s willingness to defect and those that generate an opportunity to leave North Korea. Individual willingness is attributed to economic and political factors (Haggard & Noland, 2010; Kim, 2003; Kim, 2010). [102-103]
The underlying assumption of this approach is that the most crucial factors determining an in dividual’s living standards are economic and political. In terms of economic factors, an individual who can consistently earn a living from her/his work place and can obtain sufficient food does not have a strong incentive to leave her/his own country. In terms of political factors, an individual who enjoys freedom and safety from government intrusion does not commit to abandoning her/his country. Thus, we can predict that the interplay between poverty, hunger, and political persecution will reinforce an individual North Korean’s willingness to defect from her/his own country. [103]
Previous studies concentrating on individual-level willingness and oppor tunity contribute to understanding the causes of North Korean defection, but they rarely account for why illegal migration is dominated by female North Koreans. The studies examining the individual-level factors cannot generate an answer to the question of why women’s willingness to defect is reinforced more than that of men. Moreover, the previous studies do not clearly explain why North Korean women have more opportunities to de fect than men [104]
3.2 Social-Level Analysis
The main framework of social-level studies addressing the causes of North Korean defection con sists of push and pull factors (Lee, 1966). The studies conducted with the sociopolitical lenses explore the domestic and international forces that push and pull the North Koreans toward one of the most dangerous pathways to defection. [104]