There has been an influx of school-aged North Korean refugees defecting to South Korea in recent years. Research examining their integration into South Korean schools has shown that these students consider English to be one of the biggest obstacles to their academic endeavors. However, not much attention has been paid to examining the difficulties that they face in English classes and how one might help them. The current study examines North Korean refugees' experience with English at a private university in South Korea, focusing on their prior educational experiences and their struggle with mandatory English courses. It further reports on how the foundational English courses implemented for these students have fared to date. Data were collected via surveys and interviews with refugee-background students and their instructors. The results are discussed in light of the students' pre-university experiences, with reference to Bourdieu's theoretical framework of capital resources and habitus.