Depression hits 1 in 3 female NK defectors

Life in South Korea is not easy for North Korean defectors and their difficult situation is reflected in numbers.

A study showed Tuesday that 30 percent of 140 female North Korean defectors settled here suffered from depression.

The depression was a comprehensive result of their weakened physical condition and psychological trauma from the escape from the Stalinist country.

The six-month survey was conducted from March through August this year on female defectors aged between 20 and 50. Of the respondents, 26.4 percent had abnormal psychological disorders linked to depression.

The study was headed by Professor Kim Jae-yop of Yonsei University’s Graduate School of Social Welfare at the request of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

The percentage of defectors with symptoms of depression far exceeded the average depression rate of adults in South Korea which stood at 6.7 percent last year. The rate of those with post-traumatic stress disorders was also high at 57.6 percent; and 45.7 percent of the respondents answered they tried committing suicide.

About 70 percent of those surveyed suffered from physical illnesses such as stomach disorders, neuralgia and other chronic diseases. These conditions developed as a consequence of various physical and sexual abuses defectors suffered both in North Korea and their defection.

About 14.3 percent of the respondents answered that they were sexually assaulted or harassed while in North Korea and 17.9 percent said they faced such situations in the defecting process. Some 12.1 percent said they were physically assaulted after settling in South Korea.

Such numbers are about triple the percentage of South Korean female victims of sexual assault at 4.7 percent. Those who were assaulted at home also reached 37 percent, twice that of South Korean females.

“It was difficult to endure sexual assault and forced marriage along with hard physical labor,” said a female defector during an interview conducted as part of the survey. “Most female defectors are handed over to the ethnic Chinese or ethnic Koreans living in rural areas because we don’t have a secure status.”

Other interviewees also said they are enduring severe psychological trauma and physical hardship.

“The cause of depression in female defectors is very complex. They have suffered from so many difficulties in the process of escape such as fear of being repatriated or their identities being revealed,” said Kim Hee-jin, a co-researcher in the study.

“They were exposed to human trafficking, sexual assaults and forced marriages. They lived constantly in an anxious state which has developed into a depressive disorder,” Kim said. “However, as the study was conducted on only 140 female defectors, the results should not be expanded to generalize the situation of all female defectors.

“To get exact results, we need to do a survey on a bigger pool of respondents through random sampling,” the researcher said. <The Korea Times/Yun Suh-young>