"I've visited Korea 11 times in 15 years, but I can't find my parents... Korea must stop 'child exports.'"

[Interview] Swedish Adoptee Hanna Johansson's 15-Year Quest to Find Her Roots and the Reality of International Adoption

"There's not much time left."

Dr. Hanna Sofia Johansson (49), a Korean-Swedish adoptee and human rights activist, first visited Korea in 2007 and has since returned annually to her homeland 11 times over the past 15 years, searching for her roots. Found abandoned in Wangsimni, Seoul, she has spent decades searching for her birth mother and father. However, she has faced countless setbacks, including the concealment of adoption agency records, the disappearance of her old neighborhood due to rapid urban redevelopment, and the stalled administrative procedures.

Dr. Johansson's story goes beyond simply exploring her personal roots. It vividly exposes the structural problems and national responsibility that over 200,000 Korean adoptees have faced over the past 70 years. In 2022, the Sweden Korean Adoptees Network (SKAN), to which she belongs, filed a request with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate 21 cases of international adoption, confirming the widespread nature of systemic, illegal adoption practices, including manipulation of adoption records, forged signatures, and falsely recorded parental information.

Dr. Johansson firmly states, "Korea must no longer be a 'child exporter' in the world." He emphasizes the urgent need for post-adoption support commensurate with economic power, expanded support for single parents, and a shift toward a more non-discriminatory social perception. The following is a summary of the key points from our month-long interview with Dr. Hanna Sofia Johansson.

▲Dr. Johansson at the time of his adoption. ⓒHanna Sophia Johansson

The long and desperate journey to find one's birth mother and father

Dr. Johansson first visited Korea in 2007 and has since returned to her homeland eleven times. She began her search in earnest in 2010, but with her parents likely now elderly, she expressed a sense of urgency, saying, "Time is running out." The only clue she has is the name of the former landlord of the Wangsimni neighborhood in Seoul where she was found. However, the area has since been redeveloped into a "new town," making it impossible to trace the original residents. Dr. Johansson believes that because Seoul was under a curfew in 1976, she was likely born near the place where she was found.

In 2013, I requested assistance from the Wangsimni Community Center, but they refused to even contact the landlord because I wasn't a relative. "It's highly likely that people living in the area knew my family, but right now, there's no administrative connection that would allow me to meet them," he said.

Adoption agencies' concealment of information led to years of disruption.

Dr. Johansson pointed out that the concealment or delayed disclosure of key information during the international adoption process was the most crucial factor in making it difficult to find her biological parents. The agency through which she was adopted was the Korean Council on Social Welfare (SWS), and the exact address where she was found and her records from Seoul Children's Hospital were concealed, and she only received these details in 2010.

When he visited the Wangsimni site in 2010, the neighborhood was already in complete ruins, and even the two elderly women he barely managed to meet didn't quite know the old name. The social worker in charge at the time, though fluent in English, offered only minimal assistance with conversation and documentation. "When I first came to Korea in 2007, those people would have still been living there. If I had come then, I would have made more connections," he lamented.

In 2013, a social worker from the Child Rights Protection Center officially translated and delivered the children's hospital records, but the old hospital had already closed. At the time, Wangsimni Community Center staff said they could check the landlord's identity, but they couldn't do it because there was no proof of kinship. "If the address had been available since the time of my adoption, I could have found it much faster, but the information was released late, and time is running out," she lamented.

▲Records entrusted to the Municipal Children's Hospital. ⓒHanna Sophia Johansson

Systematic adoption record manipulation and the reality of "child laundering"

A common phenomenon observed in the 21 cases submitted to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by the Sweden-Korea Adoptees Network (SKAN) was the manipulation of international adoption records. A wide range of issues were identified, from nitpicky lies to outright forged signatures, as detailed below.

- When a child is forcibly handed over after lying about their death at the hospital.
- When a child is handed over to an adoption agency as a child of the wrong gender.
- When a forged signature is used on an adoption consent form that the biological parents did not sign.
- When a child is adopted overseas without the consent of the biological parents.
- When no police investigation is conducted to find the biological parents.
- When an overseas adoption is conducted without court notice.
- When multiple dates of birth are recorded for the same person.
- When the overseas adoption process is falsified on paper.
- When a resident registration number is not canceled after an overseas adoption, resulting in dual identities.

These cases, confirmed through official investigations in Korea and Sweden, demonstrated systematic and widespread record-keeping. Notably, approximately one-third of all reported cases involved "dual status," meaning individuals retained their Korean status after being adopted overseas.

Dr. Johansson strongly criticized, "There are currently more than 15,000 Korean adoptees who have not been granted legal citizenship in some adoptive countries, including the United States, because adoption agencies did not manage or check on the children's situations after overseas adoption."

Comparing the Chilean adoption program survey with the South Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission's findings.

In Chile, an investigation into illegal adoptions during the military dictatorship began in 2021, revealing widespread corruption within the police, hospitals, and adoption agencies. Investigations into 650 illegal adoption cases are ongoing, with criminal investigations underway to prosecute those involved. In contrast, the South Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which raised the issue directly with adoptees themselves, investigated only 98 of 367 cases over two and a half years.

Dr. Johansson pointed out that "the Korean Truth Commission report acknowledged systematic unethical adoption practices and used the expression 'sent overseas like cargo,' but it was unfair because it did not recognize all cases as 'truth-finding.'"

Problems with Korea's post-adoption support system and the need for improvement

Dr. Johansson emphasized, "The Korean government must expedite the provision of post-adoption support commensurate with economic status and strengthen policies for single-parents and unwed mothers." Currently, Korea has an inadequate support system for single mothers and severe discrimination against unwed parents, with fathers not being punished for refusing to provide child support. This represents an urgent need for improvement from a child rights and basic social welfare perspective.

He presented Sweden's mandatory child support system as a model case and suggested that it is a policy that Korea could easily emulate.

Racial Discrimination and Identity Formation in Sweden

Dr. Johansson revealed the deep wounds he felt growing up in Sweden, saying, "I heard countless racist insults like, 'Your mom is a prostitute, your dad is a US soldier.'" A former boss even assumed all Korean adoptees were mixed-race and sexually insulted the women.

She made her identity clear. DNA testing revealed she was 100% Korean, and given her origins in Wangsimni, her mother was likely a factory worker. This racial discrimination made her an even more sensitive and determined human rights advocate.

A hard-line stance on halting international adoptions

"Korea, as a developed and wealthy nation with a robust economy, should no longer engage in international adoptions," they argued. They pointed out that international adoption is largely rooted in traditional prejudices and outdated values, not economic justifications, and that children should not be treated as diplomatic tools or mere "commodities" for national image.

They also pointed out violations of children's rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), stating that international adoption violates the right to grow up with biological parents. They suggested that expanding domestic adoption and strengthening social and economic support for single and unmarried parents should be prioritized, and that adoption should be strictly limited to those related to affinity.

Urban Redevelopment and the Difficulty of Overseas Adoptees Finding Their Roots

Dr. Johansson lamented, "The redevelopment of not only Wangsimni but also Gireum-dong and Mia Newtown has made it difficult for countless international adoptees to find their roots." Areas once inhabited by poor people have been redeveloped, rendering them uninhabitable, and as a result, any trace of their international adoption history has completely disappeared.

"For international adoptees, tracing the traces of life in a space that no one remembers is a very important psychological foundation to find, but the reality is that even those traces are gradually disappearing," he lamented.

Future plans and words of encouragement

Dr. Johansson, who has been unable to find his biological mother or father despite numerous efforts in recent years, including DNA testing, media exposure, and attempts to trace relatives, said, "I am planning an 11th visit this year, but there is no way to find more."

She emphasized that adoptees who have not been able to find their biological parents in Korea have the right to make their own decisions. "If you want to know the truth, you must search for it and request adoption documents from the Child Rights Center. However, the choice not to search should also be respected," she said.

He also made a heartfelt request to the biological parents, saying, "Please don't be afraid and come forward. We don't hold any grudges, we just want to know how your biological parents are doing and the truth."

Dr. Johansson's testimony vividly illustrates the realities and structural problems facing Korean adoptees. It also serves as a reminder that the public and the government must confront these long-standing wounds and fundamentally reform policies and social perceptions related to international adoption. It is hoped that Korean society will heed the voices of adoptees like Dr. Johansson and move forward on the path to change.

▲Dr. Hanna Sophia Johansson ⓒHanna Sophia Johansson

[Kim Seong-su, author of <Biography of Ham Seok-heon>]

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