- Author: Lee, Yewon
- Title: Returning Overseas Adoptees' Organizations and Diaspora Movement
- Language: Korean
- Type: Master's Thesis
- Publication Year: 2008
- Publisher: Yonsei University, Sociology
■ Abstract Overseas adoption in Korea has a more than 50-year history, starting right after the Korean War. Korea is still sending up to 2,000 children per year, long after the war has ended. With the increasing numbers of OAKs (Overseas Adopted Koreans) returning since the 1980s, the Korean government has been urged to respond to the phenomena. The Korean government has categorized OAKs' official status as "Overseas Korean (jae wae dong po)," and has called upon them to become a "global human resource" of Korea. OAKs are also conspicuous in the media as the sense of tragedy in the core of their existence draws public fascination. The returning adoptee movement in Korea is derived from these particular contexts of "where and how adoptees stand in Korea."
I propose two perspectives to approach the returning OAKs' movement. First, it can be framed as a process of returnees searching for their role in Korea, and thus claiming their status in society. Second, it can be framed as a diaspora movement that recognizes the complexity of their life experiences as diasporic subjects, instead of simplifying them to fit categories of "Korean" or "non-Korean."
I focused on three existing adoptee groups for my participatory observation: GOA'L (Global Oversees Adoptees' Link), ASK (Adoptee Solidarity Korea), and TRACK (Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea). These sites hold immense implication, as they are an organized sphere where movement can take place whenever adoptees desire to act on certain issues. I also held interviews with adoptee activists and referred to documents such as newsletters published by the adoptee groups and reports from related conferences and public hearings.
In Chapter 3, I will touch on the matter of "why adoptees come to Korea and decide to settle down" as I go over the life histories of two adoptees.
In Chapter 4, I will analyze the character of each adoptee group's movement. GOA'L is a participant in the so called "post-adoption services," which regulate a huge part of adoptees' present condition of existence in Korea. The fact that GOA'L is a "self-help" group that is run by adoptees has the implication that adoptees are capable of helping one another. I argue that the concept of "self-help" should be encouraged in any "post-adoption service," as it also has the effect of empowering adoptees as a group.
ASK is also an adoptee-led group whose final aim is the "abolition of overseas adoption." However, in the meantime, they promote substantial social change that will eventually prepare society for the final goal. ASK was actively searching for unique scenes where they could devote their specialties as returning adoptees. Giving testimony about their own adoption stories was one way that they proceeded, in order to "show" rather than "explain" that overseas adoption is not always "the best interest of the child." Through this movement, ASK hopes to raise the consciousness of the individuals to induce "social change from below," which would, in the long term, lead to the "abolition of overseas adoption."
Last, TRACK is a group that aims for "social recognition" by making official the violation of OAKs' human rights conducted on the government level. TRACK is trying to provide solid proof of their convictions by investigating the false documentation of the adoptees' adoption records. The false documentation in the adoption record is a problem that has been raised by the adoptee community in Korea for a long time, and TRACK is finally addressing this matter as the main focus of their movement.
By examining the movement and organization from above, I argue that a different status from the dichotomy of "national" and "non-national" must be given to diasporic subjects. Recognizing the complexity of the diasporic life experience and therefore acknowledging their special "request" and special "devotion" ─ as opposed to given "rights" and given "duties" of nationals ─ is the first step. Therefore, I propose recognizing the "social membership" of these diasporic subjects, which is becoming increasingly important in this era of global mobility.
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