North Korean Immigrants in the United States: Background information when reading City Under One Roof

North Korean Immigrants in the United States

This article relates to City Under One Roof

In City Under One Roof, some characters living in the small town of Point Mettier, Alaska are hiding their status as undocumented North Korean immigrants. If their secret is discovered, they will face deportation. Their fear of being found out, and their general situation, is based in real-life troubles of North Korean immigrants in the United States.

The US has a long history of political interest in and occupation of the Korean peninsula. After the surrender of Japan in World War II, the US and the Soviet Union occupied Korea (the southern and northern parts respectively), which had previously been colonized by Japan. In the ensuing Cold War era, the US attempted to bring capitalistic influence to the southern part of Korea, in opposition to the communist influence from the Soviets and China in the northern part. These two battling influences gave rise to the Korean War (1950-1953). Since then, an American military presence has been maintained in South Korea. In this capacity, the US has become an option for South Koreans wishing to emigrate and, to a lesser extent, for refugees attempting to escape the repressive and authoritarian North Korean government that resulted from the division of the peninsula.

However, American society has not generally been welcoming or hospitable to defectors seeking refuge from North Korea. The most popular option for North Korean refugees is to settle in South Korea, where there are government outreach programs to help them with education, housing and adjusting to a different society. The process of becoming a citizen takes only three months, and is much simpler than in the United States, where those who aren't turned away face lengthy requirements for naturalization. But some North Koreans still seek to immigrate to the US, often illegally (only a little more than 200 North Koreans have been able to legally settle in the US since a formal process for this was opened to them in 2006). This may be due to the particular discrimination they experience in South Korean society, the impression that they will have a better life in America, or other reasons.

In recent years, the number of refugees from North Korea coming to the United States has sharply declined. Part of this is because the number of North Korean escapees has gone down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many North Koreans escape over the North Korean-Chinese border, but border surveillance and closures have been stricter in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions. Also, the Trump administration reduced the yearly cap on refugee admissions from North Korea and banned travel to the US for North Korean citizens.

In addition to immigration challenges, capitalist culture in the US can be extremely difficult for North Koreans to acclimate to. Koreans coming from a communist society have not had experience with rent, bills and the constant exchange of money the economic structure of the US demands.

Chang Ho Kim, a defector who entered the US illegally, told the Guardian that he thinks the American government should do more for North Korean refugees. His family was nearly deported, but they were able to stay on a visa for crime victims. North Koreans in the US mostly depend on charities, rather than the government, for general aid and for help transitioning to American society. As it stands, the US is not an ideal resettlement place for North Korean refugees.

Filed under Places, Cultures & Identities

This "beyond the book article" relates to City Under One Roof. It originally ran in January 2023 and has been updated for the January 2024 paperback edition. Go to magazine.