The research was conducted to explore the knowledge acquired and meaning created in higher education by five North korean defectors graduate students and graduates from the perspective of a significant knowledge creation process centered on learners using the qualitative research. The findings show that the reasons why North korean graduate defectors students went to graduate school were “to become experts from humble life,” “the scar on life oppressed by the state becomes intellectual curiosity,” and “from a sense of duty that my life is not mine.” Participants of this research highlighted important factors, including: at the cognitive level, “learning expertise about North Korea and culture of South Korea s mainstream society”, at the psychological level, “urgency and sour grapes changing to freedom,” and at the integration level, “North korean defectors, the name tags they wish to abandon, are converted to advantages”. The results of the research are expected to contribute to the provision of proper educational measures for North korean defectors who want to settle down in South Korea for various reasons.