[Life] "8-day-old newborn baby forcibly separated from mother... isn't this baby kidnapping?"

"There was even an incident where a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old sister were forcibly taken away by the local government as if they were kidnapped"

“Indiscriminate child separation is taking place in Korea”… Interview with Kim Soo-bin, President of the Nabu Association

Editor's Note= The interview article with Kim Soo-bin, the president of the 'I am a Parent Association', is so long that it will be sent in three parts. This is the first article, and it contains information about his own growth process, his experience of separation crisis from his children, and the forced separation of infants. The second article, which will be sent early next week, will cover various forms of forced separation. The third article, which will be sent early the following week, will cover institutional and structural issues related to child separation. Life is an autobiographical interview, so it contains many personal stories and personal photos.

Kim Soo-bin, Chairman of the Nabu Association, and his first baby

This baby has now grown into an upper elementary school student. [Provided by the person]

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Senior Reporter Yoon Geun-young = "It's been 16 months since I was forcibly separated from my 8-day-old baby. It was reported as a fight between the couple, and the Child Protection Agency (CPA) came and forcibly took the baby away.

We haven't seen our baby's face for 7 months. When we go to visit the shelter, our hearts are heavy. The baby doesn't recognize his mom and dad's faces and feels unfamiliar. We want to get our baby back as soon as possible."

"My daughters, aged 3 and 1, were taken away. A 00-gu office worker suddenly called my husband and told him, "Your house is not clean enough, so I'm going to put your children in a shelter." Then, he took the children away as if he was kidnapping them.

At the time, there was a sick mother-in-law and a young master at home, but they took them away without any reason. They barged into a house where there were no parents and took away children who had just begun to speak. And they didn’t even tell us where they were being protected. We can’t see the children’s faces or hear their voices.

My husband and I are so devastated and sad that we can't eat properly, drink water, or sleep. I want to say something to the 00 District Office. Aren't you being more cruel and abusive to the children by kidnapping them from their parents and taking them to a place full of strangers?"

The two cases above are posts that were posted on the 'I am a Parent Association (NABUHyeop)' cafe.

Kim Su-bin (44), the president of the Nabu Association, had three interviews with Yonhap News starting on the 31st of last month and said, "In Korea, there are many cases of indiscriminate, forced separation of children under the pretext of preventing child abuse," and "In the process, unfair, unjust, and sad things happen."

He said, "The first case above is a case where an 8-day-old baby was kidnapped and taken away on the grounds that a marital fight constitutes child abuse." He added, "If the marital fight was a problem, the baby could have been left with the biological mother, but the child protection officer in charge lied to prevent that."

Regarding the second story, Chairman Kim said, "This is a post by a diligent mother who makes a living as a deliveryman with her husband," and added, "People say that the house is not well-cleaned, but when I checked, the curtains were a bit torn, the blanket was old, and the indoor lights were a bit dark."

He said, "This kind of cleanliness is a subjective judgment, so some families live comfortably in a somewhat messy state," and "No matter how clean a child protection facility is, it is no better than a child being in the arms of their parents."

Chairman Kim said, "In Korea, there are many cases where such child separation is decided by a small number of people in their early 20s from local governments and orphanages without any judgment from the judiciary."

"Unlike in Korea, in the US, no one can separate children from their homes without a judicial order," he said. "If it's an emergency, there has to be a justification for it."

Chairman Kim said, "The target of local governments and child welfare centers is single-parent families, unwed mothers, divorced families, low-income families, and other families who are having a hard time," adding, "We believe that these families will not be able to resist if we treat them carelessly."

Chairman Kim was born in 1980 and graduated from the Department of Forest Resources at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Konkuk University. He went to the United States to study 'environmental history' but did not complete his degree. He married his first love and had two boys. However, when his sons were in danger of being forcibly separated due to marital strife, he founded the Nabu Association in December 2020.

The non-profit organization Nabuhyeop currently has about 1,500 members, most of whom are parents who believe that their children have been unfairly and unjustly taken away by the child protection agency or local government.

Kim Soo-bin, Chairman of the Nabu Association, as a child in the arms of his parents

[Provided by me]

The following is a Q&A with Chairman Kim Soo-bin from the first article of the interview.

-- Where is your hometown?

▲ I am the eldest daughter of one daughter and two sons. I moved to Seattle, USA, when I was 8 months old, and lived there for about 5 years. After that, I returned to Korea and moved to Masan, Incheon, Ilsan, and other places. So it is difficult to say that a certain area is my hometown. The reason I moved to Seattle is because my father, who was an employee of Daewoo Group, was appointed as the branch manager there.

-- What kind of people were your parents?

▲ My father was in Seattle and then returned to Korea and became the director of another company. Our family had a hard time for a while. My father, who loved people, trusted his hometown friend and lent him all his money, but he was also scammed. The five of us, including my two younger brothers, had to live in the basement of my maternal grandfather’s house, my aunt’s house, etc. So my parents had a hard time. My father later started his own business, and when I was in high school, the IMF foreign exchange crisis began, our family began to improve.

-- Have you been greatly influenced by your parents?

▲ My father, who graduated from a prestigious university's Department of Materials Engineering, bought me many masterpieces such as 'Robinson Crusoe' and 'A Woman's Life' when I was in the upper grades of elementary school. He is the one who opened my eyes to reading. Thanks to my love of reading as a child, I always got good grades on the Korean language test at school. My mother also graduated from a prestigious university's Department of Western Art, and she is the one who taught me to read the Bible and learn about God. On my mother's side, I am a 5th generation Christian.

Kim Soo-bin, President of the Nabu Association, with her two sons when they were in kindergarten

[Provided by me]

-- What was the highlight of your life?

▲ As with many mothers, it was the moment of giving birth. The moment I first saw my baby, all other problems became trivial.

-- If there has been any adversity in your life, what was it?

▲ It was when I confronted Abojeon at the end of 2021 because he said he would take my children away. They say that the worst thing in the world for mothers is when their children get sick. How much more so must the parents feel when their children are taken away from them. When a child is taken away, the parents lose their minds. And they become slaves to Abojeon. No matter how unfair it is, they can’t protest, and they are dragged around by Abojeon for years. This is because they are afraid that if they upset Abojeon, they will never get their children back.

--Does the Abojeon still have the right to separate?

▲ After the 'Jung In Incident' in 2020, the responsibility for child separation was transferred to local governments through a transitional period starting around 2024. However, the child protection agency still exerts influence over child separation. This is because there are many cases where local government child protection officials cannot make their own decisions and rely on the child protection agency.

--Who runs the Abojeon?

▲ Good Neighbors, Save the Children, and other child-related organizations have a high share. Save the Children is the organization responsible for the death of Daejeon Yongsan Elementary School teacher Sim Mi-young (pseudonym). This organization said that teacher Sim committed child abuse by yelling at children, etc. Teacher Sim made an extreme choice due to mental anguish from feeling wronged, but this organization is known to have not even apologized to the bereaved family. At the time, angry citizens even launched a campaign not to donate to Save the Children.

The mother and father of Daejeon Yongsan Elementary School teacher Sim Mi-young, who could not send a hearse

The deceased teacher Sim Mi-young's mother and father are seen leaning against the hearse and crying as the hearse stops at Daejeon Yongsan Elementary School, where she worked, to pay her last respects on the morning of September 9, 2023. [Yonhap News Photo]

-- What do you mean by confronting Abojeon?

▲ It started with a conflict with my husband. My husband had mental problems and wanted to divorce. I think it was because he thought he could take half of our family assets. In order to create a favorable divorce situation for him, my husband repeatedly made false reports to the police that I abused our children. That was in 2020.

-- Did Abojeon intervene at that time?

▲ When my husband reported it five times, the child protection worker said, “If your husband reports it one more time, we will separate the children from their parents.” He said that my husband’s report could be considered a fight between a couple, and a fight between a couple constitutes child abuse. The worker clapped his hands in front of me and said, “Just as you have to clap your hands like this to make a clap, a fight between a couple is also caused by both parties’ faults.”

-- She says she has been repeatedly reported for child abuse by her husband. Isn't it because she did something like scolding the children that her husband reported it?

▲ No. My husband’s report had nothing to do with child abuse. For example, I was playing with my two young sons, who were kindergarteners at the time, by cutting colored paper, and my husband reported that I threatened them with scissors. He reported that the food at home tasted sweet, and that I fed the children food that was harmful to their health, so it was child abuse. My husband repeatedly reported this because he had mental problems. The police understood this situation, but the child protection agency tried to take our children away.

Chairman Kim Soo-bin in front of the Constitutional Court in July 2021

Kim Soo-bin, the president of the Nabuhyup, is announcing his position, saying, "We welcome the Constitutional Court's ruling that light corporal punishment is not physical abuse." [Provided by the person]

-- So in the end, your children were forcibly separated?

▲ My husband reported the children five more times after hearing from the child protection officer that if additional reports were filed, the children would be separated due to child abuse. I decided that I could not just sit back and let my precious children be taken away. I hired a lawyer and filed a national petition. I even created the Nabu Association. I did everything I could because I was desperate to protect my children. As a result, I succeeded in protecting my children. Through this experience, I learned that there are many parents who have their children taken away for ridiculous reasons.

-- What was Abojeon's reaction at the time?

▲ I once went to their office after being called by the ABO. A very young female employee came out. I said, "The ABO is trying to separate our child unfairly. I will gather people, submit a petition, hire a lawyer, and do everything I can as a mother." Then the employee said in a strong tone, "If you want to try, try. There is not a single person in the entire country who was acquitted of child abuse." I felt a sense of despair as I thought about what they believed and how they could be so confident.

-- But didn't I get married because I loved my husband?

▲ My husband was my first love. He was my deskmate in the 6th grade of elementary school, and he was a handsome boy. My husband lived in the house below ours, but when I was in the 2nd year of middle school, he suddenly moved away and we lost contact. Then I got in touch with him when I was 31, and we got married when I was 32. I had my first child when I was 33. Before I got married, I saw some of my husband’s strange symptoms, but I couldn’t think of breaking up because I loved him so much. My husband’s strange symptoms became more evident after I got married.

Teachers protesting to urge substantial revision of the Child Welfare Act

Teachers have staged several protests calling for revision of the Child Welfare Act, claiming that the emotional child abuse provisions are driving teachers to their deaths, following the Seoi Elementary School incident. [Yonhap News Photo]

-- In the case of the 8-day-old baby separation mentioned above, some people might at first misunderstand it as an 8-month-old baby. Can a baby this young be separated?

▲ It was 8 days after birth. The mother of this baby is said to have called 112 to correct her husband’s bad habits after a fight with him. At that time, the husband swore at her and pushed her, but the incident took a strange turn. The mother was accused of child abuse. The reason was that the couple fought in front of the child. The baby, who was only 8 days old, was separated from his parents like this.

--Why is child abuse only being charged to the baby's mother?

▲ While running the Nabuhyup, I come across various cases. When a couple fights, the mother is usually charged with child abuse. This is because the child protection agency or local governments look down on the mother more than the father. Even when the mother is beaten unilaterally by the father, there are many cases where only the mother is charged with child abuse.

-- In the case of the 8-day-old baby, was there no other way than separating it from its mother?

▲ When the baby’s mother complained to the foster care center that the separation was wrong, but they did not listen, she asked if she could leave the baby with her parents. The foster care center said, “If the parents are alive, the baby cannot go to the maternal grandmother’s house.” This is a lie. According to the Child Welfare Act, the substitute parents who are considered as the top priority when separating a child are relatives. This is because a familiar person is better for the child than a complete stranger. Protective facilities are the last priority. There is no relevant law that states that a baby cannot go to a relative’s house if the parents are alive. The foster care center and local government officials often tell parents this kind of lie.

--Why do they lie?

▲ Because child separation is linked to profit. The more children are separated for child-related organizations and facilities, the more income they receive from the state and local governments. Local government child-related civil servants are often contract workers, and separation performance helps them maintain their positions. Another problem is that their expertise and judgment are lacking. They are usually young people in their early 20s with only about a year of experience, so they often make mistakes in making judgments about complicated family situations.

-- The baby's mother said she had met her baby for the first time in seven months since they were separated. Why won't she be allowed to see him?

▲ They say it is to prevent access by parents. This is serious abuse. The baby cries endlessly as it is taken away, and even after being taken to the facility, it cries until it is hoarse. As time passes, the baby does not recognize its mother. The baby in this house also did not recognize the visiting parents and felt unfamiliar, which made the mother very sad. Even a single eye contact is very important for a baby. In the case of rats, if a two-day-old baby rat is separated from its mother, it is said to develop a personality disorder. How much more so would a person?

"Is it okay to violate children's rights due to forced separation?"

A symposium on the issue of forced separation of children was held at the Seoul Press Center in January 2022.
[Provided by Kim Soo-bin, President of the Nabu Association]

-- Looking at the cases above, it seems that local governments and child protection agencies often consider marital fights as emotional child abuse.

▲ In January 2024, a 7-month-old baby was sleeping when his parents fought. A neighbor reported the noise to the police, and the dispatched district office worker said that it was emotional child abuse because the couple had been fighting. Then, the baby was taken away.

-- A fight between a couple happens while the child is sleeping, so why is it emotional child abuse?

▲ Even if a couple fights while the child is awake, it is questionable whether it is child abuse that requires separation. Every family fights. According to couple counseling experts, it is more dangerous not to fight. This is because if the situation of not talking to each other continues, it can fester and explode. Of course, if opinions differ, it is better to talk about it, and conflicts can arise in the process.

-- Isn't it true that children become anxious when couples fight?

▲ Taking a child away due to a fight between parents is a more serious form of child abuse. When the baby goes to a facility, they can’t even drink milk. There are cases where no one will look after them no matter how much they cry. They can’t be held in their mother’s arms or see their father’s face. If creating such a situation isn’t child abuse, then what is?

The Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.

[EPA]

-- If child abuse is confirmed at home and there is a high risk of recurrence, isn't it reasonable to forcibly separate the children for their safety?

▲ It is not that separation itself is wrong. The problem is that separation is done without proper investigation, verification, or grounds. In Korea, children are taken away without even hearing what the parents say. There is no explanation as to where or why they are being taken. The parents cannot see the child or talk to the child. In short, it is no different from kidnapping. This is a clear violation of human rights.

-- Isn't it ultimately up to the judiciary to decide whether local government separation measures are appropriate?

▲ In Korea, there is no judicial judgment process. That is why unfair things happen. In the US, it is not done that way. A judicial order is required to separate a child. An emergency separation can be done without a judicial order, but there must be a justification that the measure was absolutely necessary. In the US, if a forced separation is done, the parents have the opportunity to explain themselves in court. The parents can communicate with the child immediately after the separation. An extended family survey is conducted to see if there are relatives who can take care of the child, and interviews are conducted with people around them. If there are suitable relatives and acquaintances, the child is left to them.

-- What happens if the local government or child protection agency makes a mistake in separating the child?

▲ In the United States, the accountability of such people is strict. The U.S. judiciary once imposed a fine of 9 billion won on a social worker for separating a child from his parents when there was no urgent situation. I have not heard of such punishment in Korea. keunyoung@yna.co.kr

Report to KakaoTalk okjebo<Copyright (c) Yonhap News, Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution, AI learning and use prohibited> 2025/02/10 06:01 Submitted