Leir Migration Monitor: Pathways to Migrant Integration

Migrant Integration and the Psychology of National Belonging

By Leir-affiliated faculty Aram Hur, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professorship in Korean Studies, and Professor of Political Economy at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University.

Earlier this year, North Korea officially dropped reunification with South Korea as an official policy goal. Kim Jong-un reportedly went as far as to remove any references of “peaceful reunification” or “great national unity” with South Korea from the Constitution. 

Much of what North Korea says is symbolic rhetoric, but this bark might carry some real bite down the road. For many North Korean refugees in South Korea, belief in national unity is a key factor that leads to better political integration. In her recent research on migrant integration and the psychology of belonging, Professor Aram Hur finds that North Korean refugees who identify with South Koreans as co-nationals are more receptive to South Korea’s integration training and express stronger civic duty to vote and pay taxes—new responsibilities as a democratic citizen. Keeping national unity as a principle between the two Koreas is therefore an important ingredient to successful reunification, if and when it occurs. Of course, the principle of national unity is distinct from what people feel in practice. Many young South Koreans already express little to no attachment to co-nationality with the North. But abandoning national unity as a policy evaporates any potential to revive such feelings, and with it, narrows the possibility of a smoother and more peaceful reunification on the peninsula.