이 연구의 목적은 한국 사회의 새로운 시민이 된 탈북청소년의 민주적 가치에 대한 인식 실태와 인구사회학적 변인 및 탈북 관련 변인에 따른 인식의 차이를 조사하고 그 원인을 분석하는 것이다. 이를 통해 탈북청소년 및 남북통일 이후 북한 청소년의 민주시민교육에 대한 시사점을 얻고자 하였다. 탈북청소년의 민주적 가치에 대한 인식은 대체로 높은 수준으로 나타났고 자유권에 대한 지지도가 높은 특성을 나타냈다. 특히 국가안전을 위협하는 용의자의 재판 없는 구속에 대해서는 남한청소년보다 더 높은 비율로 반대하고 있다. 반면에, 정치지도자 가족의 공직 진출과 기업과 정부의 언론사 독점적 소유에 대해서는 비교적 반대 의견이 낮았다. 탈북청소년의 민주적 가치 인식에 가장 많은 차이를 가져오는 변인은 ‘학교급별 및 유형’과 ‘한국 거주 기간’으로 나타났다. 탈북청소년에게 민주시민교육을 실시하는 것은 통일 한국의 사회통합을 준비하는 매우 중요한 일이다. 탈북청소년의 북한 사회 경험으로 인한 시민성의 특성을 고려한 민주시민교육이 필요하다.
This study aims to suggest implications on educational directions for nurturing citizenship of North Korean adolescent migrants. This analysis is based on surveys conducted on North Korean adolescent migrants in South Korea to figure out their current state of cognition on democratic values and main factors of forming that. The characteristics of cognition on democratic values of North Korean adolescent migrants tend to be highly supportive for the freedom rights. In particular, they tend to strongly object to restrictions on human rights of suspects who were charged for threatening national security. However, they do not tend to strongly object to media companies which business companies or governments own, and political leaders whose family members take up public offices. Followings are main factors that affect formulating citizenship of North Korean adolescent migrants. North Korean adolescent migrants who are educated by alternative schools in South Korea are characterized that their awareness of democratic value and rights tend to show relatively low than regular middle and high school students. The North Korean adolescent migrants who have stayed in South Korea for longer period of time tend to agree with democratic values stronger. Fostering youth generation to desirable democratic citizens is the most important task for South Korean society to maintain more stabilized democracy and to promote further development of the democracy. In particular, it is important for schools and society in South Korea to provide democratic civic education programs for North Korean adolescent migrants who have been raised in the socialist system, North Korea so that they can develop their citizenship at present as well as in future preparations for internal integration of the two Koreas through integration of their respective social values. As a result, this study suggests that schools and society in South Korea make more efforts to provide various ways with contexts of democratic civic education programs for North Korean adolescent migrants by reflecting their characteristics of civic consciousness.