The purpose of this study is to find out the safety crisis of Chinese international students studying in Korea and how to improve safety perception. After COVID19 as a sudden public event, safety perception and education on public health should be strengthened. Although China is taking many protective measures for the safety of international students, not only the popularity of health bags is high, but also the publicity needs to be improved. The survey results showed that first, it is necessary to establish a mechanism for assessing student safety perception, adjust the focus of education, identify the main factors affecting student safety, and timely and effectively remove the pressure of the epidemic on students. Second, it is necessary to continuously update the safety protection contents for international students. Third, safety education for international students should be thoroughly conducted and attention should be paid to emergency management resources. Fourth, it is required to promote the timeliness and efficiency of information update and to establish a broad and effective information communication channel.
Crisisonomy Vol.18 No.8, 1-21 ISSN 2466-1198 (Print) ISSN 2466-1201 (Online) https://doi.org/10.14251/crisisonomy.2022.18.8.1 © 2022 Crisis and Emergency Management : Theory and Praxis All rights reserved Crisisonomy 1) Improving International Students' Safety Perceptions in the Crisis of COVID-19 - Focused on Chinese Student Wei Lu#, Jae Eun Lee+ Department of Public Administration & National Crisisonomy Institute, Chungbuk National University, 1, Chungdae-ro, Seowon-gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 28644, Korea Abstract The purpose of this study is to find out the safety crisis of Chinese international students studying in Korea and how to improve safety perception After COVID-19 as a sudden public event, safety perception and education on public health should be strengthened Although China is taking many protective measures for the safety of international students, not only the popularity of 'health bags' is high, but also the publicity needs to be improved The survey results showed that first, it is necessary to establish a mechanism for assessing student safety perception, adjust the focus of education, identify the main factors affecting student safety, and timely and effectively remove the pressure of the epidemic on students Second, it is necessary to continuously update the safety protection contents for international students Third, safety education for international students should be thoroughly conducted and attention should be paid to emergency management resources Fourth, it is required to promote the timeliness and efficiency of information update and to establish a broad and effective information communication channel Key words: international student, safety perception, COVID-19 crisis, protective measures, safety education Ⅰ Introduction have also been many unpredictable crisis (Xia, 2020: 5) International students face various unpredictable crisis in As the communication between China and Korea their study life, such as cultural differences, language become closer day by day, the number of Chinese students communication, unfamiliarity in new country, and study studying in Korea continues to increase The rise of the stress The safety accident that occurred overseas for upsurge of studying abroad has accelerated the process international students moved the hearts of Chinese people, of China’s internationalization and has also promoted the society, media, families, educational institutions, educators, progress and development of China’s education, and there and all became more interested in the issue of international # + The 1st author: Wei Lu, Tel +82-43-261-3337, Fax +82-43-272-5798, e-mail slhnnux731@naver.com Corresponding author: Jae Eun Lee, Tel +82-43-261-2197, e-mail jeunlee@chungbuk.ac.kr Crisisonomy Vol.18 No.8 student safety (Li, 2010: 199) research issues or fields have been created In line with As the development of “globalization” accelerates, the the craze for studying abroad and the era of “With movement of people occurs frequently, and sudden safety COVID-19”, an in-depth study on the safety perceptions events constantly occur due to factors such as population of international students is necessary stagnation and deepening of environmental pollution, and The purpose of this study is to find out what the crisis control of infectious diseases due to changes in the is that affects the safety of international students and to transmission route and speed of transmission has become find a way to improve safety perception This study is more difficult and has caused more crisis to society and based on an online survey of Chinese international students human health (Hu & Luo, 2020: 897) COVID-19 exploded studying in Korea during the COVID-19 quarantine and at the end of 2020 and is so contagious that flights have control period Through an empirical study, this study seeks been drastically canceled to avoid global spread So, a to find a safety perception regarding the crisis and epidemic lot of crisis have been created for Chinese international crisis in which COVID-19 affects the safety of international students who are about to start school in March 2020 students Based on empirical research and analysis, we Prevention of infectious diseases is an important task of propose measures to improve international students' safety each field and an important content of social governance perception In the face of various future crises, we would (Wang, 2011: 661) COVID-19 is affecting international like to suggest ways for international students to receive students in all aspects, including study and life, as the timely and effective protection measures panic and lack of safety education for international students are revealed Relaxing the infectious disease crisis Ⅱ Theoretical Background management system is an effective way to reduce losses more proactively when we face emergencies in the future (Deng, 2020: 68) International Student Safety Crisis by COVID-19 Through literature review, most studies on Chinese Some scholars think that the study safety crisis includes students have focused on cultural adaptation, study not only life safety and possible damage to physical health, adaptation, study motivation, and safety education for but more profoundly learning safety and psychological foreign students Comparison of international students' safety (Liu, 2013), also point out that studying abroad perception of safety level and safety education requirements requires coping with study and economic stress and social for Korean society in Korea (Yu, 2019), and changes in stress, and this type of stress may cause another type of physical, behavior, cognition, and emotion of international study safety crisis (Hu, 2017: 2) Regarding the safety issue students after quarantine period and release due to of international students, some scholars define it as a threat COVID-19 (Zhang, 2021) But COVID-19 is unique, and to the property and life safety of international students it is difficult to find a study to lay the groundwork for due to various unexpected accidents that occurred while the international student safety crisis due to COVID-19 studying abroad, including political crisis and crisis of for Chinese international students Although some scholars injury (Li, 2010: 74) When classifying according to the have already intervened in research in the crisis of study cause of safety incidents for international students and the abroad safety, overall research is insufficient, and no degree of injury, they can be divided into three aspects: Improving International Students' Safety Perceptions in the Crisis of COVID-19 political safety issues, criminal crime-related issues, natural many countries is no less than the two world wars (Zhu, disasters and unexpected injury safety issues (Li, et al., 2020b: 30) IMF (2020) has named the global public health 2012: 35-37) crisis “The Great Lockdown” and “The Great Depression.” Since December 2019, pneumonia of unknown cause “Lockdown” due to the coronavirus pandemic crisis have has been found in some hospitals in Wuhan, China, and brought to the fore the issue of stress students may be it has been confirmed as an acute respiratory infection feeling, especially living far away from their home countries caused by the novel coronavirus infection (Chen & Ye, and comfort zones (Misirlis, et al., 2020: 6) 2020) WHO named it COVID-19 Although the COVID-19 prevention in South Korea and According to the global data of COVID-19 released by China has been highly praised all over the world, for Chinese the WHO, by April 18, 2020, the number of patients students often feel confused in specific fields, it is difficult worldwide has exceeded 20 million, seriously threatening to obtain detailed information about South Korea's epidemic the life and safety of the people around the world, giving prevention policy (Zhang & Kim, 2021: 76) a great shock to the global economy (Zhu, 2020b: 30) COVID-19 has spread worldwide at the fastest rate, Newly occurring infectious diseases have a high speed of spreading to more than 200 regions and countries in three transmission, a wide range, and many ripples, which months COVID-19 has had a major impact on the officials seriously affect the economic and social development of of each country and has also affected the current state the affected area and the health and safety of people (Ling, and future of state governance (Yu, 2020: 72) It has had et al., 2020: 6) Because of the prevention of COVID-19, a major impact on health care, public administration, and number of events such as outings and banquets has lifestyles in all countries It is a serious risk to human decreased due to the global demand for quarantine life, health and normal life, and its spread is so widespread measures, and routes between countries have been closed that it can be called a major test for humans In addition, The world seems to have been “on hold” by the COVID-19 COVID-19 has brought a serious secondary risk to countries crisis (Gössling, et al., 2020), as it has not only transformed around the world, and the normal life of people will be many people lifestyle, transformed many people lifestyle greatly affected, and the crisis will change lifestyles and (Rawat, et al., 2021), but has also disrupted the normal behaviors to some extent (Sun, 2020: 3-4) operations of numerous businesses (Dai, et al., 2021) Student movement restrictions and school closures are International Student Safety Perceptions cited as the biggest challenges facing higher education Among the various emotions that affect the quality of during COVID-19 (Dao, 2022: 98) The number of foreign life of urban people, safety perceptions plays a prominent students in Korea has shown a steady increase every year role (Pánek, et al., 2017) Safety perceptions is the concept but has been on a downward trend since COVID-19 in of safety that must be established in people's minds In 2020 (Tao, 2021: 34) According to the Korean Ministry daily life, people have a state of alert to various external of Education (2020, www.moe.go.kr), from February 29 environmental conditions that may cause harm to to March 7, nearly 80% of Chinese students canceled their themselves or others (Baidu, 2020) The most important plan to Korea thing in the safety of international students is to pay The impact of life order and production activities on attention to their own safety perceptions (Xu, 2007: 586) 4 Crisisonomy Vol.18 No.8 Personal safety includes issues such as home and fire safety, road and public transport safety, and knowing and using emergency contacts, etc (Nyland, et al., 2010) et al., 2013: 15) Taylor, et al (2017) find that increasing risk perception could be a viable way to increase safety behavior Zhao Health risk decision-making is the process of cognition (2021) find most of the students in China have a weak and the trade-off of information, so it is important to safety perceptions, systematic study abroad safety understand the cognitive part correctly, so as not to affect knowledge is a valuable intangible asset for international people's ability to think about decision-making (Fischhoff, students before they leave the country, and foreign security et al., 1993) Therefore, the focus of safety education is issues are expressed and approached differently from China, the cultivation of safety perceptions, so as to promote the students always face many security issues, so multi-faceted mastering of some appropriate methods, so as to inspire cooperation is required for the safety of studying abroad them to form good safety habits (Sheng, 2019: 81) Cotterall (2011) study of Ph.D students, showed that Since the Consular Center of the Ministry of Foreign international students are socially isolated, which Affairs of China establishment on 2007, has paid great exacerbates their difficulties, especially in times of crisis attention to the safety of international students The “Guide Gustafson (1998) find that gender as a research object is to Chinese Consular Protection and Assistance” compiled an important aspect of social risk research, studies have and printed by it has specially set up a “study abroad” shown that women and men perceive risk differently chapter On 2009, the ‘Chinese Ministry of Education Study Honarvar, et al (2020) find that less educated people, Abroad Service Center’ has been providing public older adults and men have lower knowledge and compliance education for students before leaving the country, providing with COVID-19 Chang, et al., (2020) find students with education in terms of personal safety, mental and physical the age older, the perceptions of COVID-19 are higher, health, and national knowledge to improve the safety feel the less anxious and depressed This differs from perceptions of international students previous focus on differences between risks, differences It is fundamental for international students to understand among risk-perceivers were proposed, therefore, in some and value the safety of international students, to raise their cases, risk perceptions differed according to the sociological perceptions of safety, and to acquire the ability to study characteristics safety (Li, 2017: 2) It has become an important part of ensuring the safety of studying abroad In crisis management, it is very important to identify and obtain information about disasters and exchange information (Zhang & Lee, 2022: 47) People known most Previous research of COVID-19 information through "Internet, online In recent years, the number of international students newspapers, social networks (Wong, et, al., 2021)" in China has continuously increased, and safety problems The practice about protective behaviors has played an due to the aging population have frequently occurred (Shin, important role in controlling the spread of COVID-19 2020: 25) International student make a huge economic (Wong, et al., 2020) So training courses should include contribution to the education sector and also enrich the theoretical and situational approaches for effective cultural diversity of society, so when international students epidemic control (Jalloh, et al., 2021) study abroad, ensure their safety is very important (Lê, With the changes in society, the situation of disasters Improving International Students' Safety Perceptions in the Crisis of COVID-19 Table Analysis result of previous research Author Subject Main Content Li, (2017) Reason: ① As the number of students studying abroad continues to increase, so are reports of accidents abroad ② The psychological impact and impact are obvious when danger is real around you ③ The tendency to study abroad at an aging age, a relatively low level of social experience, a Reasons and methods for lack of ability to live, a low sense of security, living alone in a strange environment, and facing strengthening safety education for many challenges international students before studying Methods: abroad ① Strengthen safety awareness and enhance self-help capabilities ② Before go abroad, student need to learn more about safety in relevant institutions, and families should also let foreign students understand the relevant safety common sense ③ Implementation and strengthening of safety simulation exercises Help students improve their safety awareness and self-help skills Li, (2010) International student safety is part of the overseas safety of Chinese citizens and is currently the focus of Chinese consular protection Forms of study abroad crisis, causes of formation, and methods of response Form: ① Political risk ② Criminal risk ③ Risk of major disasters and unexpected injuries cause Formation cause: ① There is a general lack of safety perceptions ② The ability to prevent and deal with crisis is weak ③ The international economic development is imbalanced to respond Response: ① International students should raise perceptions of safety and crime prevention ② International students should strengthen their ability to prevent crime and self-restraint ③ Each sector should prepare for emergencies and serious crises related to the safety of Chinese citizens abroad ④ Played the role of a group of overseas Chinese and joined forces to cope with the crisis Zhang, (2021) Psychological: ① Anti-epidemic restrictions make foreign students feel more and more alienated from society, which has a negative impact on adapting to college life ② Some people will secretly ignore and disparage Chinese students ③ Chinese students are faced with many short-term problems, such as life adaptation and language problems, which affect not only themselves, but also their friends, and have a negative impact on adapting to college students' life COVID-19 is a not only a medical ④ Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is increasing in severely affected areas and the need for problem, but also a psychological psychotherapy is increasing and social problem Social: ① Lifestyle habits such as hygiene and wearing masks, and desire for health and awareness have increased ② A cloud culture has emerged in which commuting input, meetings, and document transmission are performed using an application, and classes are conducted online in schools ③ The rate of return of Chinese international students, especially high-tech manpower in high-tech fields, is increasing Zhu, (2020a) ① The problems faced by Chinese international students are school-going problems such as flight Impact of the entry ban policy imposed cancellations and entry bans by each country on China after ② Due to the impact of COVID-19, on students' studies the stress of classes increases due to the COVID-19 on international students shortening of the semester, and on lives, the "isolation policy" has caused many inconveniences Jeon, (2020) Due to COVID-19, the number of ① After COVID-19 outbreak, the number of international students has decreased significantly foreign students has decreased ② After COVID-19, movement between countries is limited, making it difficult for universities to attract foreign students sharply Tak, (2020) Students are concerned about the quality of their classes due to the change in teaching methods due to COVID-19 Jung, (2020) Advantages: study at home without going out, free time, control the pace of the class, repeat learning, etc Due to COVID-19 online school Disadvantages: difficulty in concentration, anxiety about uncertainty in test/performance and evaluation/life advantages and disadvantages record writing, difficult of understanding class content, poor internet access, difficulty in submitting assignments, etc Yang, (2020) ① Visa and flight ticket problem Chinese students residing in Korea ② Immigration restrictions for both Korea and China have difficulties in studying and living ③ Difficulties in studying, living, graduating, and finding jobs due to COVID-19 ④ Frequent opinions of people around Chinese students As internet classes caused confusion, such as internet collapse and poor signal contact, the quality of classes and the violation of students' right to study emerged as the most worrying issues The change in the form of internet classes has somewhat reduced the possibility of infection, but there are also negative aspects 6 Crisisonomy Vol.18 No.8 has also changed, and the people's perceptions of disaster COVID-19, many international students return to China, safety will also change (Lee, 2018: 84) Samadipour, et especially in high-tech fields COVID-19 has raised al (2020) study argued that people's risk perception of perception of health and safety, has changed traditional COVID-19 pandemic is not optimal lifestyles, ways of working, education, consumption, and The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced the has taken 'online' in our lives mobility of international students, and Chinese students Zhu (2020a) find the problem faced by Chinese students have shown a lack of interest in studying abroad Health is the cancellation of flights and the ban on entry to schools and safety have become the primary concerns of students Due to the shortened semester, intensive classes have studying abroad, while crisis management has become a increased academic stress, and the "isolation policy" has key factor in attracting international students (Altbach, et caused many inconveniences in life According to Jeon (2020), they found a significant al., 2020) According to a nine-month survey, among those who are angry or disgusted by the COVID-19, as of July, 2020, decline in the number of international students as movement between countries was restricted due to COVID-19 the negative image of China was still a large proportion In Tak (2020), unless COVID-19 is over, classes will (You, 2020), Chinese international students were more be held through online classes, and the quality of classes stressed than other international students To find the safety and violations of students’ ‘learning rights’ has emerged perceptions of Chinese students in the crisis of the as the most worrying issue COVID-19, previous research and main content summarized by the following In the study of Jung (2020), it was confirmed that online classes have the advantage of studying at home and having Li (2017) found that Chinese students' safety perception, free time And Jung (2020) found the disadvantage of risk prevention and coping ability are weak, and having a poor internet connection and difficulties in international economic development is uneven, leading to submitting assignments when taking online classes frequent study abroad crises Therefore, international According to Yang (2020) research, it was confirmed students need to raise perception of safety and self-reliance that the following difficulties in the study and life of Li (2010) confirmed that it is possible for international Chinese students living in Korea due to COVID-19; Visa students to secure personal safety through sufficient safety and flight ticket, study and living adjustment, submission education before going abroad And Li (2010) found that of assignments and more most risks can be prevented and reduced if international students understand the security situation in the country Ⅲ Survey Design they are going to study in and have the ability to help themselves Zhang (2021) found that COVID-19 is not only a medical Measure Variables 1) Safety perceptions problem, but also a psychological and social problem Safety perceptions is the idea that production built up Social distancing, some people's prejudices against China, in people's heads must be safe (Baidu) International student life adjustment and language problems, and quarantine safety means that students and studies are avoid from restrictions can lead to psychological illness After threatening interference and influence on their lives and Improving International Students' Safety Perceptions in the Crisis of COVID-19 studies while studying abroad It is expanding not only Zhang, 2005; Xu, 1998) The impact of COVID-19 on to simple personal safety such as natural disasters and international students was divided into four major unexpected damage, but also to the psychological safety categories: life crisis, study crisis, psychological crisis, and of international students and learning safety (Xu, 2007; personal safety crisis Sheng, 2020) (1) Life Crisis Wang, et al (2020: 20) a study about the affect of 2) Safety education McCarthy (2016: 1-5) suggested 10 countermeasures to COVID-19 on master students in China revealed that the improve the safety status of international students It sudden event changed students' normal lives As the number includes crisis of outings decreased due to the demand for quarantine management and security training The ‘7 Standards for measures against the corona virus, students were not able School Safety Education’ presented by the Korean Ministry to attend school In particular, the stress increased sharply of Education includes seven areas: life safety, traffic safety, due to the spread and prolonged duration cultural education, health needs, violence/personal safety, drug/cyber safety, disaster safety, occupational safety In the second half of 2018 “People's (2) Study Crisis Feelings of Safety”, it was consistently high for new The world has never stopped the education or infectious diseases (2.96) and security threats (2.94) by development of the world due to China's special area out of a 5-point scale In “Basic Principles of Safety circumstances Western universities have no plans to delay Education”, as “universal”, it is stipulated that “recipients the start of school, and some universities delay admission of safety training include Korean nationals, compatriots if they not return to school before the deadline, and and foreigners residing in Korea.” The scope of safety masters not even master properly Some schools can education is major areas: life safety, traffic safety, natural take online lectures, Reporter Yang (2020), in an interview disaster safety, social infrastructure safety, crime safety, with Chinese students in Korea, believed that online classes and health safety (Yu, 2019: 15-31) did not affect the quality of lectures and that online lectures could help classrooms focus rather than listening However, 3) Crisis caused by COVID-19 students who cannot return to Korea have many study People’s lives have been changed due to the sudden problems, such as being unable to participate in actual COVID-19, the spread is continuing, causing anxiety to classes due to internet problems and having difficulty spread throughout society When international students submitting homework properly (Zhu, 2020a) leave their hometown to study in a new country, they must also face various difficulties and psychological obstacles (3) Psychological Crisis to adapt to a new culture and life (Eun, 2011:1) Most It can form psychological crises when faced with international students are constantly experiencing language significant events or problems (Fu & Mu, 2020: 26) A problems, living expenses and tuition, long time for leaving study by Jung (2020: 34) suggests that COVID-19 is also hometown, conflicts between individual tasks, regional a psychological and social problem You (2020: 59) discrimination, and difficulties in daily life (Jin, 2011; conducted a survey on perceptions and psychological states Crisisonomy Vol.18 No.8 related to COVID-19 Factors of social exclusion are organization of each university also delivers quarantine considered to be at the heart of these security threats (Le,̂ news to international students every day (Chen & Ye, 2020: 2013: 21) So, it seems that after COVID-19 Chinese 46) Korea's emergency messages also notify the students have suffered more life and psychological stress development and news of COVID-19 every day, and Kakao Mental health issues arising from the global health crisis Talk opened a new specialized part for COVID-19 caused by COVID-19 should be on the international and national public health agenda (Cheng, et al., 2022: 496) Hypothesis setting (4) Personal Safety Crisis At the responded to COVID-19 by maintaining daily life without taking extreme measures such as city lockdown from the perspective of the competitiveness of the Korean government Some Chinese international students said they were abused on the street and excluded from the school, etc (Lee, 2020) It is true that ‘Chinese students’ temporarily became a symbolic group after the COVID-19 spreads around the world 4) Measures to protect international students Various actors participate in the safety management process (Lee, 2018: 84) Chinese embassies abroad are urging for quarantine measures by increasing the number Figer Research hypothesis model ⟹ Hypothesis 4: Recognition, acceptance, and satisfaction with the measures to protect international students vary ⟹ Hypothesis 5: The requirements for safety education will vary after COVID-19 Questionnaire composition Table Questionnaire composition of phone lines dedicated to consular protection and opening Gender an online discussion meeting according to the development of overseas corona virus (Chen & Ye, 2020: 46) Providing online psychological counseling and interviewing for Age Characteristics of the participants Chinese embassies send ‘health bags’ containing quarantine materials and quarantine guidelines to students (Sun, 2020) 5) Way about get news After the outbreak of COVID-19, diplomatic missions abroad immediately issue and update consular alerts, and deliver related warning information such as internet sites, Wechat and Weibo, and the international student Educational background Language ability international students and increasing temporary flights for international students to ensure return home (Hao, 2020) Period of studying abroad Living way Safety perceptions Life safety, Traffic safety, Natural Disaster, School safety, Environmental safety, Health safety, Psychological health COVID-19 crisis Life crisis, Study crisis, Psychological crisis, Personal safety crisis Protective measures Health bag; Air ticket priority; conference; Video conferencing or telephone consultations; Online symptom counseling; Online psychological counseling; etc Chinese sites, Wechat and Weibo; Korean sites, Way about get KakaoTalk and Naver; Emergency message; Chinese news Embassy; International student organization; etc Safety training needs Safety education direction Improving International Students' Safety Perceptions in the Crisis of COVID-19 Data collection and analysis methods This study is focused Chinese international students in Hypothesis 1: Safety perception will vary according to demographic characteristics Korea, from March 23 to March 30, 2021, due to the COVID-19 prevention requirements questionnaire was Looking at the results of the survey on safety perceptions conducted online, 261 questionnaires were collected in , it was found that international students were Through spss26 to made reliability analysis, frequency more than 50% interested in living safety, school safety, analysis, and T-test and environmental safety around them, but their interest in health and safety was low and didn’t consider important Ⅳ Analysis Results According to the demographic sociological characteristics, shown that the points of concern for safety found that no According to the demographic characteristics, there are significant relationship between language ability and age more women, the age is concentrated in the 24-30s, and In terms of gender, female students were more interested there are more college and master students in Korea Most in life safety and male students were more interested in of the international students Korean can be used fluently, school safety In terms of education background, language and there are more students living alone It is summarized students and master's students are more interested in life in the following safety, and college students and Ph.D students are more interested in school safety According to the living way, it was found that the students who lived the dormitory Table Characteristics of the participants Characteristics Gender Age Educational background Period of studying abroad Language ability Living way and co-renting were most interested in school safety, one Frequency % F 97 37.2 M 164 62.8 room and living with their family were most interested in the life safety Under 18 3.4 18-24 79 30.3 25-30 139 53.3 Over 30 34 13 Language 21 College 83 31.8 Master 107 41 Ph.D 50 19.2 in SPSS26 are shown in The standardized a Less 6M 35 13.4 coefficient of the COVID-19 crisis is 0.806, which is greater 6M-2Y 81 31 2Y-4Y 86 33 than 0.7, which means that the confidence level of the Over 4Y 59 22.6 Primary 15 5.7 The crisis due to COVID-19 is analyzed through the T-test shown that the effect of the crisis caused Hypothesis 2: The crisis caused by COVID-19 will vary according to demographic characteristics The results of the reliability analysis of this questionnaire questionnaire is high, was reliability and stability Middle 82 31.4 Advanced 144 55.2 No 20 7.7 Dormitory 71 27.2 health between genders (p=0.043