북한이탈주민의 모바일 역량과 활용에 관한 연구: 일상생활 만족도와 지능정보사회에 대한 기대에 미치는 영향을 중심으로 (A Study on the Mobile Capacity and Utilization of North Korean Refugees : Focused on the Effect of Life Satisfaction and the Expectation towards Intelligence Information Society)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국정보사회학회
· 수록지 정보 : 정보사회와 미디어 / 21권 / 3호 / 1 ~ 32페이지
· 저자명 : 김영미

초록

본 연구는 정보소외계층으로 간주되는 북한이탈주민의 모바일 역량과 활용과 그 영향에 대해 실증적으로 분석함으로써 북한이탈주민의 모바일 격차를 해소하기 위한 시사점을 제시하는 것이다. 분석을 위해 한국정보화진흥원의 ‘2019 디지털정보격차실태조사’ 중 북한이탈주민 조사 원(Raw) 자료를 활용하였으며 총 460명의 샘플을 사용하였다. 주요 변수간의 관계를 구조방정식 모형을 활용하여 분석한 결과 ‘모바일 역량’과 ‘신기술에 대한 태도’는 ‘모바일 활용’에, ‘모바일 활용’은 ‘일상생활 만족도’와 ’지능정보사회에 대한 기대’에, ‘일상생활 만족도’는 미래 ‘지능정보사회에 대한 기대’에 통계적으로 유의미한 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 그러나 ‘사회적 자본’과 ‘모바일 활용’ 사이에서는 유의미한 관계를 찾을 수 없었다. 본 연구의 시사점은 다음과 같이 요약될 수 있다. 첫째, 질적인 차원에서 북한이탈주민의 정보격차를 없애려면 그들의 모바일 역량을 제고하고 활용을 높이기 위한 정부 및 NGO의 정보화교육이 지속적으로 이루어져야 한다. 둘째, 평소에 북한이탈주민들이 새로운 디지털 기술에 노출되는 기회를 늘려야 하며, 스스로도 자기계발에 힘써야 한다. 셋째, 북한이탈주민들의 모바일 활용을 높이기 위해 이동통신사업자들도 사회적 가치 실현의 차원에서 적극 참여할 필요가 있다.

영어초록

This study investigates the mobile divide among the traditionally underprivileged North Korean refugees by examining their mobile utilization capacities. Understanding the degree of their mobile capacity and utilization is essential in bridging the emerging digital divide and establishing policies that can provide practical help and support. 460 samples of refugees were obtained from ‘The Report on the Digital Divide’ jointly published by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency and analyzed using structural equation modeling.
The correlation among variables including ‘mobile capacity’, ‘attitude towards new technology’, ‘social capital’, ‘mobile utilization’, ‘life satisfaction’, and ‘expectation towards intelligence information society’ were analyzed. Results indicated that ‘mobile capacity’ and ‘attitude towards new technology’ positively influenced ‘mobile utilization’, while ‘mobile utilization’ positively influenced ‘life satisfaction’ and ‘expectation towards intelligence information society.’ Furthermore, the current level of ‘life satisfaction’ was found to positively influence the future level of ‘expectation towards intelligence information society.’ Nonetheless, no statistically significant relationship was found between ‘social capital’ and ‘mobile utilization.’ The results suggest several meaningful implications. First, the impact of mobile capacity on mobile utilization signals to the existence of a qualitative mobile gap. Thus, government agencies and NGOs ought to provide extensive ICT related educational programs to North Korean refugees in order to enhance both mobile capacity and utilization among the population. The government should expand operation of the citizen mentoring program and carefully conduct one-to-one training to those who need ICT related education. Second, since attitude towards new technology positively influences mobile utilization, refugees should be offered with opportunities to encounter digital technologies in their everyday lives. It is advised to activate events in which refugees can experience digital possibilities and use local public libraries as digital hubs. Furthermore, the refugees themselves must strive to improve their understanding of these new technologies. Third, as mobile utilization positively impacts life satisfaction and expectation towards intelligent information society, mobile carriers ought to be actively involved in the process of re-educating refugees, especially in terms of corporate social responsibility. Providing education for online and offline users through mobile telecommunication agencies and websites or expanding opportunities to visit mobile communication technology exhibitions is also necessary. Finally, as mobile utilization is more urgently needed in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, proactive measures tailored to the untact era should be promptly taken for everyday lives as well as in the educational arena.
This research has some limitations, namely that the statistical analysis neglects the qualitative aspects of mobile utilization among North Korean refugees. Future studies should aim to examine the side effects or adverse effects of mobile utilization including mobile addiction or excessive mobile dependency among refugees. A comparison study between the refugees who have experienced mobile utilization in North Korea and the ones who first encountered it after coming to South Korea can be conducted for future research.

참고자료

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