A Study on the Psychological Well-Being of North Korean Defectors

The purpose of this study is to examine whether post-traumatic stress disorder mediates the relationship between traumatic experience and psychological well-being in North Korean defectors. The study used 285 surveys for data analysis. Results are as follows. The post-traumatic stress disorder of North Korean defectors mediated the relationship between their traumatic experience in North Korea, traumatic experience in the course of defecting and psychological well-being. This study suggests that it may be crucial to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder in order for North Korean defectors to settle down successfully in the South Korean society.