Lemmy was adopted from South Korea: I mistakenly thought I was a lost child

It is crucial to get the truth about South Korea's adoptions, says 50-year-old Lemmy Kook Lyngholm, after a Danish association has put pressure on South Korea to launch an investigation

3 Danes who were adopted from South Korea as children are now demanding that the South Korean government investigate the circumstances surrounding their adoptions.

At the head of the initiative is lawyer Peter Møller, who himself was adopted from South Korea. He has just been to South Korea to make the claim on behalf of the association Danish Korean Rights Group. A South Korean truth and reconciliation commission now has four months to decide whether to accept the request.

Lemmy Kook Lyngholm, you are deputy chairman of the Korea Club, whose members are adopted from Korea. What does it mean for you personally that Peter Møller has been to South Korea to demand an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the 53 adoptions?

It is very important to create openness about the South Korean adoptions. Worldwide, it is probably around 200,000 South Koreans who have been adopted over the past six decades. Today, many do not have access to the full truth about their adoption.

Do you fear that there has been deception in connection with the adoptions?

We know that is the case. Many adoptees have seen incorrect information in their papers. Wrong dates of birth, wrong names. One of the glaring cases was a woman who found out that she had been named and identified in South Korea after a little girl who had died but had previously been approved for adoption. As a child, the woman was adopted under the deceased girl's name. It means something to have the opportunity to find your roots, but you can't when the information from the authorities is false.

What is the background for the many South Korean adoptions?

Most people have been told that they were foundlings, but in many cases this is not true. Korean women who had given birth out of wedlock were previously stigmatized and ostracized. This meant the adoption of thousands of children. One of the reasons why the authorities have covered up the adoptions is that it should not be possible to find the parents so as not to bring shame on the families. At the same time, large sums of money have flowed into society due to adoptions.

What is your own adoption story?

My Danish parents were told that I was found in a basket in front of a monastery. When I visited the orphanage in Seoul from which I was adopted in 2015, I was told that I had been brought into the orphanage by the police as a two-year-old in the spring of 1974. Half a year later I came to Denmark.

Have you found your biological family?

No. It hasn't worked out and it's affecting me. I had a good childhood with a loving family in Denmark and have nothing to complain about, but I would like to meet a person with whom I am biologically related. Most people in my situation would like to know more about why they were adopted. I usually say that because I don't know where I'm from, I might as well have been dropped on earth by a UFO. It's not that I think finding one's biological family is rosy, but I just want to establish my background.

How is your life and that of other adoptees today?

I am well, married and have two children from a previous marriage and two bonus children. In general, it is very different how the adoptees feel. Some have a good life, but miss finding their roots. Others have a really hard time. A child who is given away suffers some kind of injury. We were also the only ones with black hair and different looks in the schools in the 1960s and 1970s. We've gotten lots of love, but we've also been teased.