70 years of Korean adoption: Untold struggles of returning overseas adoptees
70 years of Korean adoption: Untold struggles of returning overseas adoptees
Simone Eun-mi (left) and Lee Chang-woo (alias), who were adopted to the Netherlands and returned. /Park Eun-joo© Provided by THE CHOSUNILBO
South Korea, in its impoverished state, sent children abroad for adoption, starting with four mixed-race infants to the United States in 1953. Officially estimated at 170,000 (equivalent to the population of Seogwipo City), unofficially at 250,000 (Geoje City), advanced countries believed it to be the “best alternative,” valuing children highly. However, an unexpected situation is unfolding. The babies sent away are returning to South Korea in middle age, asking, “Do I have the right to live as a Korean?”
Graphics by Lee Jin-young© Provided by THE CHOSUNILBO
◇ Coming to South Korea to end one’s life
A five-year-old boy living in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, got lost and was adopted by Norway. He said, “My parents are in Korea,” but his adoptive parents thought he was lying, as the child was listed as an “orphan” in the documents. Jan, who suffered from alcohol addiction, returned to Korea and lived the life of an extremely poor person. Without receiving surgery for kidney stones, he suffered and died in December 2018, seven months later, in a goshiwon (small, cheap accommodations). He allegedly said, “When I die, bury me in front of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. I want to shed light on the plight of adoptees.” It was despair felt by “returned export goods.” People around him say, “Jan slowly went to his death.”
◇ Unforeseen return of overseas adoptees
Simone Eun-mi, 40, was adopted to the Netherlands after her parents’ divorce. When she heard the phrase “adopted from a poor country,” she imagined Korean parents starving to death. She returned to Korea out of nostalgia 10 years ago and has been active as the head of the citizen group “KoRoot (Home of Roots)” and founded the organization “Klein Geluk” three years ago. She provides housing and food support for poor adoptees. Out of an annual budget of 30 million won, she earns 70% herself, and the remaining 30% is covered by donations.
How many adoptees have returned to South Korea?
“There are no official statistics. I heard it it about 300 to 700 people. We receive an ‘F-4 visa’ for overseas compatriots, and if the government creates a column for ‘adoptees’ on the application form, it would be possible to grasp the number.” (The Ministry of Justice has stated that it is not currently tracking the number of adoptees returning to South Korea.)
What was the reason for creating a citizen group yourself?
“We needed to voice our concerns directly. A few years ago, two adoptees committed suicide and one died. I know 20 more adoptees who have committed suicide. Before demanding amendments to adoption-related laws in Korea, I thought it was important to take care of each other. Korea was the first country to formalize overseas adoption. We are the ‘oldest adoptee community.’ We also want to work with adoptees from other countries.”
What is the urgent issue?
“South Korea probably didn’t imagine that adopted children would return. But they’ve been coming back for 50 years. Isn’t there various support for North Korean defectors? We need social infrastructure for returning adoptees, such as a centralized DNA bank for family reunions, job training and support, and regulatory revisions for settlement.”
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What about visa issues?
“South Koreans go to jail if they commit crimes. Adoptees have their visas suspended and are ‘deported.’ Some adoptees don’t have citizenship because their adoptive parents neglected the procedures. They also face these issues abroad. Separate visas (e.g., F4-1) should be issued for adoptees, and simple labor, currently prohibited, should be allowed. Many adoptees cannot work office jobs due to lack of higher education despite being eligible for an F-4 visa.”
What if asked, “Why should adoptees be given special status?”
“South Korea says that adoption was done ‘for the child’s sake.’ Has the government or adoption agencies ever checked how we live abroad? Have they just sent us away and forgotten about us? Adoption is a system that takes away family, mother tongue, and nationality from a child. Adoptees didn’t choose to be adopted. They return to South Korea to die or because they want to be buried in South Korea. It seems like there’s no space for us in South Korea.”
Is South Korea still turning its back on adoptees?
“I participated in the adoptee homecoming program. They put us in a nice hotel and gave us lots of gifts. Some adoptees have participated 15 times. Still, when adoptees return home, they get sick, die, or starve. South Korea is a country that welcomes us ‘once’ but doesn’t do it when we come back and live here.”
Why return?
“I don’t speak Korean, but I want to be Korean. Isn’t it a natural instinct to return home?”
◇ Why is “special legal status for adoptees” necessary?
Similar to Simone, Lee Chang-woo (pseudonym, 47), who was adopted into the Netherlands, fled his home at the age of fifteen because he was dissatisfied with his new family. Seven years ago, he left the Netherlands to come here because he wanted to. He currently resides in an older Incheon multi-family home. Since he does not have a job, Simone provides for him by buying food and covering his rent, which is 350,000 won monthly.
What is your current visa status?
“I have seven to eight months left on my F-4 visa, which I extended once.”
Do you work here?
“I don’t have enough education or English proficiency to work as an English teacher. I paid my medical costs and renewed my visa with whatever I had with me. I lost my job when the restaurant relocated; I used to work at one in Itaewon. I was given two months of Korean language instruction when I arrived in Korea, but I never picked it up. The Chinese used to call me names for not speaking Korean when I worked at a construction site. (Everything he did in South Korea was illegal under his visa.)
You worked as a sommelier in the Netherlands. Why, in Korea, without any subsidies, are you living like this?
“My adoption documentation states, ‘Found in a trash can, 2 months old.’ Poor at the time, my mother asked the hospital to adopt me straight after giving birth and subsequently canceled the next day; she said they refused the withdrawal of the adoption request since they had already transferred me to an institution. I want her not to worry hence I will not get into specifics. I just want you to write, ‘The Netherlands covered up adoption abuse.’ I would never choose to call such a place home. When adoptees go back home, Colombia reportedly grants them nationality. Politics is not important to me; funds are not important either. My dream is merely to live here in peace.”
Some argue that foreign adoption offers a second shot at life. This fantasy passed population control and child rights with silence.
In the 1980s, South Korea, which started international adoption in earnest in 1954, sent the greatest number of children overseas. The notion that “moving to a developed country guarantees more opportunities” was the idea. 9,000 children were taken overseas for adoption in 1985 alone. The total fertility rate at the time was 1.66 children. Even with the fertility rates of 0.78 and 0.72 in 2022 and 2023, respectively, 142 and 79 children were moved outside.
“In 2011, I was questioned, ‘Why does Korea still send children for adoption overseas?’ by the Executive Director of UNICEF. I clarified that providing opportunity is key to adoption. However, I had a change of heart after learning about adoptees’ realities.” Hye-ryeon Noh, a professor of social welfare at Soongsil University who has worked in both Korea and the US for Holt Children’s Services, said, “A country that sends its children abroad for adoption cannot advance its child welfare system. Even during periods of declining birthrate, we facilitated 2,000 adoptions, reflecting the inadequacy of our population and child welfare policies. The global popularity of adopting ‘Korean babies’ was driven by the ability of foreigners to adopt through non-face-to-face processes facilitated by adoption agencies. In addition, Korean infants were perceived as hygienic and healthy. During the 1980s, infants were effectively exported for an adoption fee of $3,000 (as of 1981).”
In 2012, legislation was enacted to guarantee intercountry adoptees the right to access their adoption information. However, many agencies have not complied with this law. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Republic of Korea has identified 367 cases of overseas adoptions from the 1960s to the 1990s involving document falsification, abduction, or adoption without parental consent. Should the government’s complicity be confirmed, a class action lawsuit by adoptees may ensue.
Since the enactment of the Special Act for the Legalization and Resettlement of Korean Compatriots in 2013, the government has theoretically supported the resettlement of individuals with at least one-eighth Goryeo ancestry. However, returning adoptees find themselves in a much more precarious legal position, facing significant challenges in securing their rights and integration into South Korean society.