Social enterprise and work integration of North Korean migrants in South Korea

This contribution aims to present the general issue of integrating North Korean (NK) migrants living in South Korea into jobs and society, the main characteristics of the social enterprise scheme set up in South Korea, and a few examples of social enterprises engaged in NKs migrants’ work integration. It stresses that the process of integrating NK migrants through the social enterprise model leads to apprehend this question, not in the traditional framework of policies specific to NK migrants, but in a broader framework to address a more comprehensive issue of the integration of vulnerable populations. This is an orientation that breaks with the previous public-policy framework towards NK migrants without real counterpart benefits. This approach also supplements governmental policies that have been developed since 2005 to encourage NK migrants to engage in skills training and support programmes in employment coaching. By adding case studies that assess the effectiveness of NK migrants’ work integration based on the criteria of job creation, job skills enhancement, and normal job sustenance, this study examines whether the European-originated work integration social enterprise model works for a particular social enterprise type benefiting NK migrants in South Korea.