- Headline: [Pressian Books] "We are adoption survivors, used as tools of South Korea's Western diplomacy" by Kihye Jeon Hong
- Source: Pressian
- Date of Publication: October 19, 2024
"When Mia took her own life, not a single Korean citizen mourned in the streets dressed in mourning attire. The ones who wept, whose hearts were torn apart, unable to contain their grief, falling to their knees, were us—the adoption survivors—and it’s still the same today." (Kim Thompson, from the chapter "When an Adoptee Took Their Life, No One in Korea Wept." in In Our Own Words)
▲ Photo Caption: Korean Cover of In Our Own Words
Blurb 1 (lower left corner): "I urge everyone to read this powerful testimony—a voice of survival, mourning, and resistance against a corrupt system."
Blurb 2 (lower right corner): Endorsed by Hee-kyung Kim (author of Strange Normal Family (Korean), 2017), Grace M. Cho (author of Tastes Like War: A Memoir, 2021), and Maja Lee Langvad (author of Hun er Vred, 2014).
The book In Our Own Words [Chagi chasinŭi mokkyŏkcha-tŭl], authored by Boonyoung Han, Peter Møller, Jane Mejdahl, Meejeong Hwang, and others; translated by Cheolheung Ahn; and published by Geulhangari, is a collection of essays written by 43 international adoptees and their families, recounting their personal adoption experiences. These essays were originally published as a series under the title 'Searching for Truth: 372 International Adoptees' in Pressian from fall 2022 to 2023.
South Korea’s international adoption program began in the aftermath of the Korean War. Over the following seven decades, more than 200,000 children were sent abroad, yet the South Korean government turned a blind eye to the issue. It was not until December 8, 2022, that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) decided to launch the first government-led investigation on the "Human Rights Violations in Intercountry Adoption Procedures."
This TRC decision was driven by the organized efforts of adoptees. Between September and December 2022, 372 adoptees filed petitions in three separate submissions, urging the commission to investigate whether human rights abuses had occurred during their adoptions.
“When we began the investigation, we didn’t anticipate uncovering such widespread corruption—falsified documents, the use of templates to fabricate personal information for children whose identities had been altered, and duplicate archives. In most international adoption cases, parental consent forms were missing. This indicates that birth parents either did not consent to their children’s overseas adoptions or were completely unaware it had occurred. These revelations are profoundly disturbing.” (In Our Own Words, p. 5)
The book presents firsthand accounts of these violations. Among them is Mia Lee Sørensen, a premature infant who was falsely declared dead at birth to her parents so she could be sent abroad for adoption; Inger-Tone U Shin, who was adopted at age 13 on a tourist visa and later suffered sexual abuse from her adoptive father; and Michaela Dietz, whose records were altered during the adoption process, leading her to reconnect with the wrong birth parents. Another is Renate van Hale, who had a difficult reunion with her birth mother in her mid-30s and is still haunted by the fact that she cut off contact with her again. These and other stories reveal why so many adoptees now identify as “adoption survivors.”
“We vanished without a trace. From the moment we were born, we were separated from our mothers and sent to foreign lands. This book is the first voice of our shattered lives."
The authors, often describing themselves as “ghost babies,” are not merely recounting the twists and turns of their personal lives. Their stories demand accountability from the South Korean state, which has long concealed itself behind adoption agencies and adoptive parents. Countries like Chile and Ireland conducted state-level inquiries into international adoption practices in 2017 and 2020, respectively. Meanwhile, a 2022 study by South Korea’s National Human Rights Commission revealed that 85% of international adoptees stated that “South Korea should end international adoptions entirely.” And yet, the practice, which began in 1953, continues to this day in 2024.
“Government documents reveal that international adoption was not driven by poverty, but by the need to meet the demands of Western nations and maintain diplomatic ties with them. At the time, before South Korea had semiconductors, Hyundai cars, cell phones, K-pop, or the Korean Wave, the country lacked other commodities to trade. Its children became tools of diplomacy. This policy is frequently described as ‘baby diplomacy.’” (Peter Møller from the chapter "Why the Right to Know Matters" in In Our Own Words)
