Korean adoptee

A Korean adoptee or KAD is a person who was adopted of South Korea birth often, but not always, by adoptive parents of another race, ethnic background, and culture.

History of Adoption and Korean Adoptees in South Korea

The start of adoption in South Korea is usually credited to Harry Holt in 1955. He wanted to help the children of South Korea and so adopted 8 children from South Korea and brought them home. He then created Holt International Children's Services in 1955. Holt created the system since before that point overseas adoption was not common in Korea.

South Korea, then, formulated the Ministry of Social Affairs for overseas adoption.

The first wave of adopted people from Korea came from usually mixed-race children whose families lived in poverty; the children's parents were often American military men and Korean women.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the reasons for adoption shifted. Industrialization and urbanization brought about more teen pregnancy and increased divorce rates. The centralization also led to the poverty of many rural areas, which was a contributing factor to adoption. Also, it brought about more children who were born out of wedlock. This brought about higher abandonment rates.

Also in the 1970s, many adopted people first became adults some chose to also adopt children either from South Korea. Because they became adults, some KADs chose to lobby to make change to Korean adoption and adoption laws.

From 1988, when South Korea hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics, many social issues of South Korea were shown. The wave of journalist articles forced Korea to try to decrease the amount of international adoptions and try to increase domestic adoptions, which has had some mixed success. The number of adoptions has decreased in recent years as more restrictions and rights for women and single mothers are put into place, including banning of proxies.

Not until the 1980s and early 1990s did the South Korean government and South Koreans, both in South Korea and in the diaspora, pay any significant attention to the fates of KADs. The nation was not prepared for the return of their 'lost children.' But the numerous adult KADs who visited Korea as tourists every year, in addition to raised public awareness of the KAD diaspora, forced Korea to face a shameful and largely unknown part of their history. South Korean president Kim Dae-jung invited 29 adult KADs from 8 countries to a personal meeting in the Blue House in October 1998. During this meeting he publicly apologized for South Korea's inability to raise them.

One factor that helped making KADs visible in the South Korean discourse, was a 1991 film called Susanne Brink's Arirang, based upon the life and experiences of Susanne Brink, an adult KAD from Sweden who said that she suffered abuse and racism in her adoptive home and country. After the movie she became a celebrity in South Korea, and many South Koreans started to feel shame and guilt for the children their country had sent out.

Since then, South Korean media rather frequently reports on the issues regarding international adoption. Most KADs have taken on the citizenship of their adoptive country and no longer have Korean passports. Earlier they had to get a visa like any other foreigner if they wanted to visit or live in South Korea. This only added to the feeling that they were 'not really South Korean'. In May 1999, a group of KADs living in Korea started a signature-collection in order to achieve legal recognition and acceptance (Schuhmacher, 1999). At present (2009) the number of KADs long term residents in South Korea (mainly Seoul) is estimated at approximately 500. It is not unlikely that this number will increase in the following decade (International adoption from South Korea peaked in the mid-1980s). A report from Global Overseas Adoptees' Link (G.O.A.'L) indicates that the long term returnees (more than one year) are predominantly in their early twenties or early thirties.

The first ever association to be created for and by adult KADs, was the Swedish Adopterade Koreaners Forening (AKF) in 1986. Since then, similar groups have emerged in most Western European countries, various US states and cities, as well as in Canada, Australia and Korea. Before this, most organized events and activities for KADs had been arranged and administered by adoptive parents and Korean immigrants. These arrangements included culture camps and social gatherings, with a main focus on adoptive families and their children.

With the formation of the adult associations, KADs for the first time were gathering with others who shared a common experience, on their own terms and by their own initiative. KADs were making statements both for themselves and towards the public, that they were no longer children, but independent adults with their own unique concerns and issues. Together, these varied groups and associations have tried to raise awareness locally and internationally about KADs' unique position in relation to South Korea and their adoptive countries. In 1995, the first KAD conference was held in Germany; in 1999, conferences were arranged in both the US and South Korea. During the last couple of years, numerous adult KAD conferences and social gatherings in various countries have been arranged, including world gatherings that draw participants from across the globe. In addition, works of KADs have become known both in art, literature and film-making. Other KADs have received celebrity status for other reasons, like Soon-Yi Previn who is married to Woody Allen, actresses Nicole Bilderback, and Jenna Ushkowitz, Washington State Senator Paull Shin, former Slovak rap-artist Daniel Hwan Oostra, and recently, Kristen Kish of Top Chef - Season 10.

Race and national control

Many of the South Korean children adopted internationally, grew up in white, upper or middle-class homes. In the beginning adoptive families were often told by agencies and social workers to assimilate their children and make them as much as possible a part of the new culture, thinking that this would override concerns about ethnic identity and origin. Many KADs grew up not knowing about other children like themselves. This has changed in recent years with social services now encouraging parents and using home studies to encourage prospective adoptive parents to learn about the cultural influences of the country. With such works as "Beyond Culture Camp" which encourage the teaching of culture, there has been a large shift. Though, these materials may be given, not everyone may take advantage of them. Also, adoption agencies started to allow the adoption of South Koreans by people of color in the late 1990's to early 2000, and not just white people, including Korean-Americans. Such an example of this is the rapper GOWE, who is a Korean adopted into a Chinese family.

When International Korean Adoptees turned into adults, many of them chose to return. These countries include Sweden, United States of America, The Netherlands, France, Belgium etc. In this respect the so-called re-Koreanization of the KAD's is often reproduced in South Korean popular media (e.g. the blockbuster 'Kuk'ka Taep'yo/National Representative/Take Off). The 're-Koreanization can be reflected in Korean ethnic based nationalism (both North and South of the 38th parallel). Even in its capacity as a global economy and OECD nation, Korea still sends children abroad for international adoption. The proportion of children leaving Korea for adoption amounted to about 1% of its live births for several years during the 1980s (Kane, 1993); currently, even with a large drop in the Korean birth rate to below 1.2 children per woman and an increasingly wealthy economy, about 0.5% (1 in 200) of Korean children are still sent to other countries every year.

To stem the number of overseas adoptions, the South Korean government introduced a quota system for foreign adoptions in 1987. And under the system, the nation reduced the number of children permitted for overseas adoption by 3 to 5% each year, from about 8,000 in 1987 to 2,057 in 1997. The goal of the plan was to totally eliminate foreign adoptions by 2015. But in 1998 the government temporarily lifted the restrictions, after the number of abandoned children sharply increased in the wake of growing economic hardships. Notable is a focused effort of the 2009 South Korean government to seize international adoption out of South Korea (with the establishment of KCare and the domestic Adoption Promotion Law.

For several decades, the South Korean international adoption program provided homes for more orphans per state than any other country in the world. Some South Koreans view adoption as an international shame, but domestic adoption is still rare because it clings to patriarchal bloodlines (Elliott, 2002). Official numbers show that approximately 170,000 Koreans have been adopted by North American, European and Oceanic peoples (Overseas Korean's Foundation), but the actual numbers could be as high as 200,000. It is a curious fact that Scandinavians are much more likely than those of other countries to adopt South Koreans, especially when population in Scandinavian nations is taken into account (see statistics here).

As a result of many internationally adopted KADs growing up in white areas, many of these adoptees avoided other Asians in childhood and adolescence out of an unfamiliarity and/or discomfort with Asian cultures.These KADs sometimes express a desire to be white like their families and peers, and strongly identify with white society. As a result, meeting South Koreans and Korean culture might have been a traumatic experience for some. However, other KADs, often those raised in racially or culturally diverse communities, grew up with ties to the Korean community and identify more strongly with the Korean aspect of their identities.

In 2010 the South Korean Government legalized dual citizenship for Korean adoptees.

Korea's Domestic Program

Since the Seoul International olympics, Korea has been pushing for a domestic program. However, this has been less than successful over the decades. The numbers only picked up after 2007.

This was because Shin Ae-ra, and her husband, Cha In-Pyo publicly adopted, making headlines. This raised domestic numbers.helped to raise domestic numbers as did several dramas and documentaries.

The tide also turned with the release of the movie, My Father and subsequent dramas featuring adopted characters without melodramatic storylines. Such as My Princess,

However, the numbers of domestic adoption fell in 2013 due to tighter restrictions on eligibility for Adoptive Parents. However, the number in babies has also gone up with the forced registration of babies, also a new law, leading to more abandonment.

The primary reason as of 2015 for the majority of surrenders within South Korea is single mothers are still publicly shamed within Korea. The amount of money single mothers can receive within the country is 70,000 won per month, only after proving poverty versus the tax break from adopting domestically is 150,000 won per month, which is unconditional, whereas it's conditional in the case of single mothers. 33 facilities for single and divorced mothers, but the majority of them are run by orphanages and adoption agencies.

See also

• Fleur Pellerin

Sources

• Beckwith, Ryan Teague, Adopting a Culture: Woman's Struggle for a Korean Identity, 2002, accessed 11/11/02
• MEIER, DANI ISAAC, LOSS AND RECLAIMED LIVES: CULTURAL IDENTITY AND PLACE IN KOREAN-AMERICAN INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTEES, GRADUATE THESIS, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, MARCH 1998
• Hübinette, Tobias, Korea - adoptionens historia, Um & Yang, 3/1999, accessed 09/11/02
• Ignace, Marianne, Ignace, Ron, First Nations Studies 101-3 STUDY GUIDE, Simon Fraser University, 1998: 18, 140
• Jang, J, Adult Korean Adoptees in Search of Roots, Korea Herald, 1998/12/10
• Kim, Dae-Jung, President Kim Dae Jung's Speech: October 23, 1998 at the Blue House, in Chosen Child, vol 1, no 5, May 1999: 15-16
• Schuhmacher, U, Korean's Jungle Book Story, Korea Herald 1999/05/06

External links

• Global Overseas Adoptees' Link (G.O.A.'L)
• International Korean Adoptee Associations (IKAA)
• Asian-Nation: Adopted Korean- and Asian-Americans
• International adoption of South Korean children
• http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/proed/korfindings.html