Eugene: The first four months of resettlement for North Koreans

Posted 07:40 PM, July 26, 2006, by esyim

Daesung Gongsa and Hanawon

I had the rare opportunity to travel to the satellite Hanawon site today. After driving a couple hours away from the city of Seoul, I finally arrived at the heavily-fortified site. Access to the complex is highly restricted, but the NGO I work for was able to arrange a visit for me.

The satellite clinic has two patient exam rooms, one for a Western approach and one for a Eastern approach to care. Every day except on Wednesdays, there is a doctor on staff at the clinic. As can be seen, the rooms (and the facility as a whole) are clean and new. The problem seems to be with a lack of staffing for the 500 North Koreans in the two sites.

While visiting the clinic, I also spoke with Chae Byung Soon, the head nurse of the satellite site. She showed me the medical facilities and spoke to me more about the health system for the North Koreans.

Since the onsite facility has limited capabilities, most specialized cases are referred out to hospitals in the region. The care of the North Koreans is fully covered by the government, but the referral process is an arduous one. The nurse is responsible for taking all the patients to their referrals.

Each trip out of the complex requires supervision of several patients that require care at different hospitals and different specialists within the hospitals. The nurse thus commented at the system is quite generous in its access to care, but the staff at Hanawon could use some more manpower.

Shown above is the head nurse of the satellite clinic speaking with the vice president of the NGO. She has been overwhelmed by the amount of work required to manage the cases at the clinic and suggests that increasing staffing would help the clinic most at this point. On a positive note, access to care and the quality of facilities is quite high.

When North Koreans first enter South Korea, they spend their first month with Daesung Gongsa, a government agency responsible for national security in South Korea. During that first month, North Koreans are interviewed by the agency to find out more about their motivation for seeking residency in the South.

In addition, the North Koreans are offered a complete physical exam that covers the following: vitals, urinalysis, CBC, blood typing, hepatitis titers, venereal disease, malaria, biochemical assays, kidney function, X-ray, EKG, and cervical cancer. Following this screening and also in the case of medical emergencies, the north Koreans are given free medical care covered fully by the government.

After passing through the screening by Daesung Gongsa, North Koreans are taken to Hanawon, a resettlement facility sponsored by the government. For three months, the migrants are given intensive training aimed at easing resettlement in South Korean society, a new environment that is starkly different from their home in the North.

To facilitate this transition, training at Hanawon incorporate a wide range of educational courses, ranging from the most mundane of topics to more abstract concepts. The facility and its programs thus help the North Korean migrants navigate and better understand a foreign environment and mindset.

The comprehensive medical coverage provided at Daesung Gongsa is extended through the three months the North Koreans spend at Hanawon. Hanawon houses two medical clinics, one at their headquarters and one at a satellite site designated for single males.

Between these two clinics, the staff includes five physicians and two nurses. One nurse is responsible for each clinic, and the physicians travel between the two sites during the week. Since the on-site clinics have limited technological capabilities, the clinics mainly provide first-aid and referrals to outside hospitals.