North Korean Refugee Entrepreneurs in South Korea

Seventy-five years after the onset of Asia’s Cold War, the world remains focused on the geopolitics of inter-Korean relations. Meanwhile, an emerging community of more than 33,000 refugees from North Korea currently live in South Korea; half aspire to become entrepreneurs. Despite the potential insight the refugee community could offer, there is insufficient data and limited understanding of their circumstances and specific needs. To fill this gap, The Asia Foundation produced a report on “North Korean Refugee Entrepreneurs in South Korea: Unveiling Korea’s Hidden Potential” to conduct a series of interviews and a landmark survey of 131 refugee entrepreneurs. Read the report here.

KEI is glad to co-host with The Asia Foundation this important discussion on the lives of refugee entrepreneurs, exploring their aspirations, experiences, challenges, and opportunities amid discrimination, limited financial access, and barriers in culture and language. Experts including Ambassador Kathleen Stephens, Kwang Kim, Scott Snyder, and Randall Jones will discuss insights from North Korean refugee entrepreneurs and offer a set of strategic recommendations to bolster social inclusion and support refugee entrepreneurs in Korea.

This event will be livestreamed on Zoom with an interactive Q&A session.

Please RSVP to receive the webinar link on the day of the event.