Seoul has introduced an electric vehicle that can charge wirelessly through charging strips in the roads.
Current Events, Politics & Economy
Counseling Services of Adoption Agencies Experienced by Unwed Mothers
Choi Hyong-Sook, an unwed mother who once lost her child to adoption, but who fought to take him back and is now raising him as an unwed mother, is working to transform an unjust social order into one where we can all be more fully human. The paper described the experiences of five unwed mothers who participate in the group called Korea Unwed Mothers & Families Association, also fondly known to the Seoul adoptees as “Miss Mamma Mia.”
Culture & History
Structural Violence, Social Death, and International Adoption: Part 4 of 4
This broadcast (online in six parts) aired in Korea in 2009 and uncovered many irregularities in Korea’s adoption system. This mother relinquished her baby because the baby was born prematurely and she did not have the money to care for her. You can see in Part 4 how the mother is treated by the adoption [...]
Culture & History
Structural Violence, Social Death, and International Adoption: Part 3 of 4
Why International Adoption From Korea Doesn’t Make Sense (and Why Korea Does It Anyway) Let us ignore for a minute that no international convention states that poverty is in and of itself is a good reason to separate children from their parents, communities, or countries. Let us play along for a minute with the rather [...]
Culture & History
Structural Violence, Social Death, and International Adoption: Part 2 of 4
Korea has been known as the “Cadillac” of international adoption for its supposed ethics and legality. However, as adult adoptees search for their birthparents and are reunited, it becomes apparent that Korea’s system has been riddled with abuses. Watch a program from Korean national broadcaster KBS to see the story of one adoption in which a [...]
Current Events, Politics & Economy
Structural Violence, Social Death, and International Adoption: Part 1 of 4
Outside Eastern Social Welfare Society’s front door in Seoul: “Domestic Adoption Consultation. Unmarried Parent Consultation.” In 2008, 98% of the 336 babies sent overseas for adoption by Eastern were from unwed mothers, and 80% of those mothers were over the age of 20, according to government statistics. It sent 38% fewer children (208) for domestic [...]
Culture & History
Christmas For All Families
By Guest Blogger Leanne Leith Christmas season in Korea. Tonight is the first ASK/TRACK (Adoption Solidarity Korea/Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea) Christmas party for unwed moms and their children. We support them in their efforts to increase social services to struggling families, in an effort to reduce the supposed need for [...]
Culture & History
Book: Fugitive Visions
By Guest Blogger Leanne Leith Ahh, another self-portrait. This time it’s 5:30 a.m. in Seoul, S. Korea, and I’m waiting for the first train of the morning. I’m reading Jane Jeong Trenka’s new work, “Fugitive Visions,” and it’s disjointed nature perfectly describes adoptedness. How I felt growing up in the midwest. How I struggled with [...]
Culture & History
Adoption Awareness Month: Thanksgiving and the Adoptee Pilgramage
By Guest Blogger Leanne Leith Today I’m a little homesick. I miss my kids, my one true family. We’re a little strange. I haven’t even spoken on the phone to them the whole time I’ve been here, but that’s not something that’s ever been necessary with us. We know we’re in each other’s thoughts. And [...]
Education & Family
What does “Gotcha” mean?
November is National Adoption Month. What would such a celebration of adoption, whether in the U.S. or another country, mean to my Korean birthmother? At the time my mother became a “birthmother,” I was six months old, and my sister was four years old. Because she passed away about nine years ago, I will take [...]
English
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