korean adoptions

by jack wang

When most people hear about foreign adoptions, the first thought that usually comes to mind is Angelina Jolie and her ever-expanding family.

But over the past few years, foreign adoptions have, for a wide variety of reasons, remained relatively popular, peaking in 2004 and 2005 with over 22,000 adoptions each year. Some families who cannot or choose not to have a child of their own instead decide to shelter and love one who had been born into less fortunate circumstances.

South Korea, a nation known for ethnic homogeneity, has been one of the most popular countries for Americans to adopt from – consistently placing in the top five along with China, Russia and Guatemala – with around 1,000 babies sent to the United States each year.

However, the South Korean government has begun implementing new adoption systems with a long-term goal to cease all foreign adoptions by 2012, in what appears to be a well-intentioned but ill-advised plan to battle the stigma surrounding adoptions.

Foreign adoptions of South Koreans began in the 1950s with casualties of the Korean War. Since 1958, 230,635 children have been adopted in South Korea, but only 30 percent of those were domestic. South Koreans, living in a traditional Asian culture that strongly emphasizes family bloodlines, have historically been leery of adoptions, and the government is seeking to eliminate what they deem to be the shameful exportation of babies.

Since last year, the government has been offering incentives for domestic adoptions, handing out $90 monthly allowances for each child adopted over the age of 12, as well as extra health benefits for adopted disabled children. The government has also made domestic adoptions easier, increasing the maximum age gap between adoptive parents and children, while imposing a five-month waiting period on foreign adoptions.

While any plan to boost domestic adoptions should be lauded, the South Korean government is stepping too far in seeking to completely eliminate foreign adoptions. By setting such a goal, South Korean government officials seem more preoccupied with the reputation and image of their country rather than the good of the orphaned children.

I also fail to see how limiting foreign adoption would somehow magically boost domestic adoptions. If a Korean couple plans on adopting a child, I doubt that their intentions are affected by whether or not another couple on the other side of the globe also wants to adopt a child. Foreign couples are also more likely to adopt older or disabled children, who would be likely left homeless if the government had its way.

The real problem with the low domestic adoption rate lies in culture and perception, and that’s something that can’t be changed by policymaking. Even South Koreans who adopt today still often hide the origin of the babies, falsifying pregnancies or claiming to have had affairs. Instead of targeting foreign adoptions, the South Korean government should launch a publicity campaign on abortion to fight the stigma surrounding it, while keeping or increasing the incentives they already offer.

It will take time, but it’s better than sacrificing the welfare of orphans for phony posturing.

The delegates as well as others of the Korean diaspora feel the urgency for reunification. The people making efforts for reunification do not naively overlook North Korea’s isolationist policies nor do they overlook the failings of the North Korean government and economy. Rather, the process has been a collective effort towards peace and the reconstruction of Korea which could help alleviate the state of North Korea, through the merging of resources, as well as ease tensions between North Korea and the U.S. The merging of the Korean states and resources could potentially elevate Korea to a major power in the world. Of course, as Hong notes, “no one said reunification wouldn’t be messy,” but the work that DEEP, the only program of its kind in North Korea, is putting forth in elucidating North Korean history and society as well as recent mobilization in the Korean American community to urge the U.S. government to sign a peace treaty with North Korea is progress.

For more information about DEEP and KEEP, visit nodutdol.org and find out more about Korea-US relations at kpolicy.org.

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