1. Purpose and necessity of research

A large number of residents escaping from North Korea have had trouble adjusting to South Korean society at early stages of settlement, such as suffering criminal damages or committing illegal activities themselves, mainly because of different legal systems between South and North Koreas and their ignorance of laws in South Korea. North Korean refugees, though they share the same language with that of South Korea, are highly likely to suffer because South Korea has a utterly different legal system and legalization, as well as a vastly different economic system. With their psychological anxiety following early stages of adjustment, North Korean refugees are more vulnerable to criminal damages or involvement in criminal offenses. In short, the disparity in societal systems between South and North Koreas, human rights abuses faced by North Korean defectors when they escape from their country, and manipulation of laws that has prevailed in the North are highly likely to lead to a distorted Legal Consciousness, resulting in vulnerability to criminal damage and involvement.
The purpose of this study is to offer an analysis as to how Legal Consciousness of North Korean refugees affects their adjustment to South Korean society by taking a closer look at the current status of law-abiding consciousness of North Korean defectors who are in the process of adjusting to South Korea. To do this, I shall explore fundamental Legal Consciousness required to the adjustment to South Korean society and the gap between basic Legal Consciousness and the level of North Korean refugees’ legal consciousness. By elaborating what causes North Korean defectors’ maladjustment in everyday lives of South Korean society, this paper will suggest practical plans to enhance Legal Consciousness of North Korean defectors.
The research of North Korean refugees’ experiences and current status related to legal consciousness is expected to be useful in investigating what kind of differences between South and North Koreas should be overcome in the preparation for unification. In addition, North Korean refugees’ experiences of adjustment to South Korean society with regard to the consciousness of law will provide insights that could be used to prevent a great number of trials and errors following the unification of the two Koreas.

2. Research Methods

This paper utilizes literature investigation, questionnaire survey analysis of North Korean defectors and South Korean citizens, and in-depth interviews of North Korean refugees in order to provide a deion of the current status of legal consciousness of North Korean defectors and to present thereby ways to encourage their law-abiding spirits.
First of all, for the research of literature, this paper explores prior studies on the general meanings of Legal Consciousness, North Koreans’ consciousness on laws, and scholarly explorations of socialism and North Korea’s legal system so as to have a general understanding of the legal system of North Korea, as well as authoritative interpretation of law institutions, such as courts or the Constitutional Court.
In terms of survey, North Korean defectors and South Korean citizens were asked to fill in the survey in order to grasp how North Korean refugees are aware of the law system and compare levels of Legal Consciousness between the two groups. Those surveyed include North Korean defectors who are over 19 and have stayed in South Korea for more than one year, and 800 of them were selected by using quota sampling method according to region-, sex-, and age-specific rates. Also, among South Koreans who are over the age of 19 and residing in the metropolitan area, 1004 people were selected according to gender-, age-, and educational background-specific ratios. Trained surveyors read questionnaire and explained to North Koreans who then fill in the questions themselves, while South Koreans were asked to fill in the web questionnaire via email.
For in-depth interviews, 12 North Koreans refugees who were considered having a general understanding of law-relevant culture and experiences were selected, with consideration for socio-demographic characteristics and their experiences in North Korea. The in-depth interview mainly dealt with the followings: 1) differences between autonomous market economy and planned economy; 2) disparities arising from getting accustomed to dictatorship and collectivism; 3) impact of legalization in North Korea; 4) lack of experiences of liberal democracy; 5) experiences suffered while escaping North Korea and travelling through other countries; 6) restrictions faced after the arrival in South Korea; and 7) disparities due to North Koreans’ native and structural limitations.

3. Concept of Law consciousness and Components of Legal Knowledge

3.1. Concept of Law consciousness
The consciousness of law is considered the public’s attitudes or spirit on laws (this concept is criticized for its ambiguity). There are roughly two approaches to research with regard to Legal Consciousness: one is to focus on developmental stages of law consciousness and their application from the framework of cognitive developmental psychology; and the other is to explore Legal Consciousness as a concept which contains a number of areas relevant to legal consciousness from the point of a socio-psychological concept of “attitude.”
This study is intended to take the latter approach by illuminating the concept of Legal Consciousness as various law-relevant areas in the framework of attitudes―a socio-psychological concept―and present elements according to cognitive, emotional, behavioral areas of legal consciousness. So, Legal Consciousness in this paper refers to a socio-psychological concept of “cognitive, emotional, and behavioral attitudes on law that come from the public’s mindset or spirit regarding the legal system.”
To do this, in this paper the cognitive area of Legal Consciousness contains legal knowledge and necessity of law, while the emotional area includes a sense of friendliness on law, trust on the legal system, and favorable attitudes about law obedience In the area of behavior, intention to use law and legal efficacy are included.

3.2. Components of Legal Knowledge Useful for North Korean Defectors’ Adjustment to South Korea
This present paper shall deal at greater length with levels of legal knowledge that falls in the category of a cognitive area of Legal Consciousness, which is assumed to be particularly low in North Korean refugees, in order to explore the relationship between their adjustment to South Korean society and legal consciousness, as well as details of Legal Consciousness that serve as an obstacle for them to integrate in their new community. It is necessary to have a basic understanding of laws and regulations in South Korea for them to adapt themselves to new environments and enhance their consciousness of how the legal system works. Legal knowledge required for North Korean refugees’ adaptation to their new environments in South Korea is subcategorized into the followings: 1) legal knowledge related with constitutional value; 2) legal knowledge with regard to crimes and their damages; and 3) legal knowledge regarding private disputes and other social laws.
First, a general understanding of constitutional value is required as legal knowledge because North Korean defectors should have a clear consciousness of the basic implications of the constitutional law and its value in order for them to serve as responsible citizens of South Korea who are entitled to the protection of the constitutional law. In other words, North Korean residents in South Korea are required to be aware of the constitutional law, a set of regulations and rules established among the citizens, to serve as genuine members of society they have settled in. Second, legal knowledge with regard to crimes and their damages is also required because the criminal law refers to the legal norms among members of society as to what is allowed to do and what is not. Punishment, as effect of the criminal act, should be given in accordance with the constitutional law and the principle of legality in that the abuse of governmental authority can lead to the restriction or infringement of an individual’s life, body, freedom, property, etc. In this context, the criminal act is of significance as concrete forms of the constitutional law, thereby underlying the importance of understanding the criminal law. Third, legal knowledge regarding private disputes and other social law makes it easier to understand the meaning of rule of law as well as law and order in a capitalist country. North Korean defectors seem to find it most hard to figure out freedom and rights enjoyed in a capitalist system while staying and trying to be accustomed to South Korean society. In particular, private autonomy and the limitations of state intervention in dealing with contracts and solution of disputes are considered an essential part that North Korean refugees consider puzzling.
Internalizing those three areas of legal knowledge means internalizing legal values which each domain seeks for.

4. Characteristics and Differences of North Korean Defectors’ Legal Consciousness

The analysis of in-depth interviews with North Korean refugees found that as they had lived for as short as less than 20 years or as long as more than decades in North Korea’s planned economy before coming to the South only to struggle in a country driven by market economy, liberal democracy, and constitutionalism, the diametrically opposite systems between the two Koreas have caused North Korean defectors to build their own unique level of Legal Consciousness.
North Korean escapees are supposed to learn how market economy works rather than planned economy, consider making choices and their consequent responsibility in a liberal democracy polar apart from a state monopoly, and learn culture of rule of law instead of rule of above the law. It seems clear that Legal Consciousness of North Korean refugees, in the process of learning new systems and culture in South Korea, marks off from that of both North Koreans and South Koreas.
The fact is supported by the results of in-depth interviews with North Korean defectors. Most of all, they lack a general understanding of the ownership system, including private ownership―a fundamental element of market economy―and they find it hard to understand the principle of capitalism in which all goods and services are purchased in return for money, instead of gratuitous distribution in North Korea. Therefore, they are likely to equate what a state owns with their own property, and the state is responsible for the cost of education and bringing up of children, as well as medical bills of members of society. Furthermore, they do not have a clear understanding of contracts. As they are not fully aware of the fact that everything―whether tangible or intangible―is performed according to contracts, it is highly likely for them to suffer significant legal damages. A good example of such cases is that it is so commonplace for North Korean refugees to have transactions with money or things without leaving any evidence or contracts, resulting in suffering damages. North Korean escapees are not familiar with the fact that “everything is owned by someone.” Indeed, they do not comprehend the idea of ownership of companies, and instead consider them as state-owned factories or companies in North Korea. Such consciousness often leads them not to take their performance at work seriously, resulting in misunderstandings in work life.
Also, North Korean defectors are not familiar with the idea of the presidential election. In North Korea, it is unimaginable to vote directly for electing president, cast a secret ballot, and even the fact that the president is subject to punishment when violating laws. Still, North Koreans defectors ignorant of the political system in South Korea are manipulated for electoral strategies, which in turn undermines the formation of North Korean defectors’ sound consciousness of laws.
North Korean escapees, who had lived in a country where the rule of law is not equally applied before arriving in South Korea, learn that the Republic of Korea is a constitutional state, but they are doubtful of the fact. However, they acknowledge that the socially disadvantages in South Korea are more likely to enjoy the protection of laws than those in North Korea.
The prevailing idea of North Korean escapees is that collective interest always precedes an individual’s interest. As the collectivist slogan of “one for all” is deeply embedded in the psyche and culture of North Korea, North Korean refugees have twofold ideas about individualistic culture. Furthermore, assault is not considered a serious crime in North Korea, leading to not less damages suffered by North Korean defectors while staying in South Korea. More seriously, they lack critical thinking, such as assigning blame to woman when it comes to sexual abuses. After arrival in South Korea, many North Korean women are subject to domestic violence by their husbands, but the issue is not considered a big deal, thereby calling for the improvement of their Legal Consciousness.
As the aforementioned, the most serious aspect of North Koreans’ legal consciousness seems to be the disparity in consciousness due to markedly different legalization between the two Koreas, followed by the gap arising from different economic systems between them. North Korean refugees are likened to transplanted trees. When transplanted, young trees are highly likely to survive by taking root in the ground in a relatively short period of time, whereas trees of a few decades old take no less time putting down roots or fail to survive in a new environment. The props and nutritive material for such trees to survive well refer to education of legal consciousness for North Korean defectors.

5. The Analysis (I) of Legal Consciousness of North Korean Refugees: Basic Legal Knowledge

5.1. Level of Legal Consciousness Related to the Constitutional Law
In terms of Legal Consciousness with regard to the constitutional law, North Korean escapees showed, compared to their South Korean counterparts, a higher level of consciousness in the concept of a democratic, law-governed state, and citizens’ rights to the state, a lower level in understanding fundamental human rights such as an individual’s rights, and a similar degree in legal knowledge on governmental organizations.
Their low level of legal knowledge seems to be related to North Korea’s legalization. In short, in a communist culture, the consciousness of the public’s rights to the state can be evident, while the concept of an individual’s freedom and rights is abstract.
With legal knowledge of social constitutional rights, North Korean refugees exhibited a higher level than their counterparts in South Korea. It can be easily assumed that North Korean escapees who experienced a socialist system find it easier to understand social constitutional rights with focus on governmental roles and social solidarity.
In terms of legal knowledge on governmental organizations, the two groups showed no significant disparity.

5.2. Level of Legal Consciousness Related to Criminal Damage and Crime Occurrence
When it comes to Legal Consciousness related to criminal damage and crime occurrence, North Korean refugees were found to have a markedly low level compared to their South Korean counterparts. In particular, they showed the lowest-level consciousness of common sense regarding laws in the field of criminal judicature, and a huge gap in levels of understanding assault, bodily injury (including sexual assault), and domestic violence compared to South Koreans surveyed. In terms of fraud and narcotic crimes, over half of the North Korean refugees surveyed showed no different levels of consciousness compared with their South Korean counterparts.
Basic common sense in law in the field of criminal judicature includes the division between civil action and criminal action, the classification between detention centers and prisons, and an understanding of the court-appointed defense attorney system, and North Korean refugees showed a significantly low level of consciousness of the above-mentioned facts. As such legal knowledge is obtained only after grasping the principle of checks and balances among the branches in a constitutional democracy, it might be hard for North Korean escapees to comprehend.
In terms of assault and bodily injury (including sexual assault), North Korean defectors demonstrated a low level of legal knowledge especially on punishment for disputes between individuals and assault whose cause is attributed to the victim. It is presumed that North Koreans are accustomed to addressing disputes in a private way instead of public settlement. They also showed a significantly low level of knowledge about the abolition of crimes prosecutable only upon complaint when it comes to sexual assault, which highlights that they tend to address such anti-social sex offenses privately as well.
Domestic violence is likely to be rampant in a patriarchal society. It seems that as North Korea is still male-dominated and even victims do not take domestic violence seriously as a crime, the level of their sensitivity to and knowledge of family violence is very low.

5.3. Level of Legal Consciousness Related to Individuals and Society
In terms of individuals and society, North Korean defectors demonstrated mixed levels of Legal Consciousness according to content. They showed a low degree of consciousness with regard to an individual’s rights and rules, such as marriage or contracts, as well as laws whose details are defined according to changes in society, such as traffic regulations. In particular, regarding legal knowledge of contracts, they had a markedly low level, as indicated in the results of questions such as “You must observe even a waiver of the body once you have signed it,” and “The limit of interest is defined by law when you borrow money.” Especially, the number of North Koreans surveyed who got the former questionnaire wrong far exceeded those who got it right, which means North Koreans have blind faith in the binding of contracts. It seems to be essential for them to be educated about unjust or illegal contracts.
On the contrary, North Korean escapees were found to have a higher level of legal knowledge in terms of personal information and subsidies compared to their South Korean counterparts. One noticeable thing is that North Korean refugees, accustomed to a socialist system focusing on social solidarity, are critical of the acts of seeking personal interest by committing fraud on the government. For instance, they are well aware of the possibility of bearing the blame when receiving subsidies such as assistance for basic living cost or employment incentives by deceit or other unlawful means. Also, they are well aware of the fact that it is unlawful to deal with goods issued by the government (rented apartment with the support from the government) at your disposal. That is because in many cases they receive settlement incentives, a rented apartment, or employment incentives, leading to a high level of knowledge of such subsidies.

6. The Analysis (II) of Legal Consciousness of North Korean Refugees: Attitudes on Laws and Experiences of Legal Disputes

6.1. uation of Differences by Legal Consciousness Area
In terms of subareas of Legal Consciousness, other than legal knowledge, North Korean defectors showed a relatively higher degrees. In particular, in the question of “the consciousness of the necessity of laws,” they demonstrated a remarkably higher level. In the emotional area―“a sense of friendliness of laws” and “favorable attitudes about law abidance”―they also showed a higher level compared to their South Korean counterparts. Also, it was found that there was no noticeable gap between the two groups in terms of “trust on laws.”
The analysis of results of subgroups of North Korean escapees, however, found that the longer they stayed in South Korea, the lower level of Legal Consciousness they showed, meaning that their expectations and positive views on South Korean society have gradually grown negative. To enhance their Legal Consciousness, the idea of a law-governed democracy should be established.

6.2. uation of Differences in consciousness of South Korean and North Korean Laws
North Korean defectors reported markedly different uations of laws and law-related experiences each in South and North Koreas. They consider that laws in South Korea are fair and guarantee an individual’s safety and rights, rating positively law-relevant life in South Korea. North Korean escapees are making greater effort to observe laws in South Korea than in North Korea and gain more information and knowledge on laws. This shows their general expectations on the legal system in the South while integrating in.

6.3. uation of Criminal Damages and Disputes over Illegal Activities
The male groups in both North Korean defectors and South Korean citizens who were surveyed reported to have a similar level of criminal damages, appearances to the police station due to illegal activities, and experiences of going on trial. But North Korean escapees demonstrated a remarkably higher degree in “experiences of situations in which legal assistance was needed.”
The female groups in both North Korean defectors and South Korean citizens, compared to their male counterparts, showed much lower levels in criminal damage and involvement of illegal activities. Also, another noteworthy is that female North Korean refugees demonstrated a significantly lower rate compared to their South Korean counterparts in “experiences of criminal damage,” as well as “experiences of situations in which legal assistance was needed.” They were found to suffer a remarkably lower rate of criminal damage, which seems to attribute to the fact that many of them are recipients of the assistance for basic living cost and their living area is limited only to their neighborhoods.
North Korean escapees were found to have a lower rate of experiences in which legal assistance was needed, and it might be because they live within the limit of their residences and neighborhoods.
In terms of criminal damage and disputes over illegal activities, North Korean defectors can be assessed to be stable compared with their South Korean counterparts. However, assault and bodily injury account for a higher rate in the types of illegal activities committed by North Korean escapees―a fact that might affect how their criminal involvement looks more serious than it actually is.

6.4. uation of Difference in Legal Aid and Education of Law
Compared to South Koreans surveyed, North Korean defectors were found to have very limited channels for legal assistance. An overwhelming 60 percent of them reported to have received assistance from protective custody officers or police officers. In a stark contrast, South Koreans were found to gain support from lawyers, online legal information channels, or acquaintances rather than police officers. Also, they were found to use various ways to gain legal assistance, such as civic groups or consultants at community welfare centers. Such a gap can attribute to a lack of economic, social resources of North Korean escapees. In other words, they have a limited economic competence as well as social and human resources, leading to a limited source of legal assistance such as lawyers or acquaintances.
In addition, North Korean defectors were found to have a lower level of consciousness about the Korea Legal Aid Corporation compared to their South Korean counterparts. Since the Corporation is designed to provide legal assistance to the economically disadvantaged, appropriate education is needed for North Korean refugees to better understand and make use of the institution.
Although legal education at the Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees (Hanawon) and Regional Settlement Center (Hana Center) is essential for North Korean defectors, a large number of those surveyed responded that they had never received legal education, pointing out the limitation of the institutions’ roles. They assessed positively the effect of legal education, but a few issues involving legal education at Hanawon―limits due to a lack of understanding of South Korean society, difficulties arising from terminology differences between South and North Koreas, and a lack of mental readiness― should be resolved.

7. Methods to Enhance North Korean Refugees’ Legal Consciousness and Law-abiding Spirit

7.1. Plans to Improve Legal Education of North Korean Defectors
Legal education for North Korean refugees should be improved by strengthening education of laws at the stage of regional settlement, along with the existing education programs at Hanawon. The programs at regional Hana Centers can serve as an alternative to solving problems of legal education provided from Hanawon. Given North Korean escapees’ lack of legal knowledge and a recent spate of crime types, a greater period of legal education should be provided to North Korean refugees in the form of regional settlement education.
In terms of content of legal education, as they showed a markedly low level in understanding the idea of fundamental rights, common sense about criminal judicature, and criminal damage and crime occurrence, legal education should be improved in a way that can complement such vulnerability.

7.1.1. Understanding of Distinctiveness of Individual Areas and Enhancement of Relevant Legal Consciousness
When it comes to legal knowledge on individual areas, the followings should gain greater focus: 1) legalization in South Korea is to guarantee an individual’s freedom and rights, especially fundamental rights; and 2) the principle of private autonomy is one of important principles in legalization in the Republic of Korea and the exercise of autonomy involves responsibility.

7.1.2. Enhancement of Vulnerable Legal Knowledge on Criminal Judicature and Illegal Activities
The division between civil action and criminal action, the classification between detention centers and prisons, and an understanding of the court-appointed defense attorney system are the domains of which North Korean refugees showed a significantly low level of consciousness. As such legal knowledge is obtained only after grasping the separation of powers― legislation, administration, and jurisdiction―, it might be hard for North Korean escapees accustomed to one-party dictatorship to understand the principle of checks and balances among the three branches in a constitutional democracy. Therefore, it is necessary to provide education for them about the fact that jurisdiction in the South works through check and balance among governmental powers, as well as detailed legal knowledge.
In addition, information with regard to criminal damage and illegal activities should be provided to North Korean refugees as complementary education. Economic crimes, such as fraud, pyramid selling, and voice phishing, account for a large ratio of criminal damages, while assault, bodily injury, and violation of traffic regulations make up for a great ratio of infliction of injury, thereby highlighting the necessity of detailed legal knowledge on each situation.

7.1.3. Reinforcement of Law-relevant Information Education
North Korean refugees were found to have an extremely limited channel to gain information regarding laws compared to their South Korean counterparts, especially the utilization of legal information via the Internet.
Therefore, the provision of proper information education to North Korean escapees can lead to the expansion of their learning channels of legal information. When their competence to utilize computers to gain information is strengthened, damages from cyber crimes and the possibility of cyber criminal occurrence will decrease as well.

7.2. Plans to Enhance North Korean Refugees’ Access to Laws

7.2.1. Expansion of Legal Aid and Use of Public Defense System
Legal assistance for North Korean refugees has been provided in various forms in both public and private areas, but a lack of cooperation between the two sectors has led to ineffective legal assistance. Furthermore, as legal assistance for North Korean escapees is mainly based on volunteer work, there is a lack of understanding and expertise with regard to distinctive characteristics of North Korean refugees.
Considering the above-mentioned situation, it is necessary to come up with ways to expand legal assistance in the public sector and make use of court-appointed lawyers at a national level. Also, integrated management schemes should be put in place in an organic collaboration between relevant organizations, such as the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court.
Finally, a national-level relevant committee should be established to manage and oversee the overall system of legal assistance.

7.2.2. Strengthening of Legal Aid for Legal Procedures
North Korean refugees should receive enough assistance from the government and society when involved in disputes in their real life. It is urgent and necessary to establish a legal assistance system in which North Korean escapees are guaranteed assistance with regard to judicial proceedings. To do this, it is required to complement the court-appointed lawyer system dedicated to providing assistance to North Korean refugees.