ID :
47824
Thu, 02/26/2009 - 21:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/47824
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At hearing on adoption law, frustration and calls for change
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Yonhap) -- Local experts and adoptees expressed frustration
Thursday at a public hearing on South Korea's antiquated adoption law over the
country's lack of child protection programs and the slow pace of change.
Since the 1950s, South Korea has sent away the largest number of children for
international adoption in the world, with over 150,000 Korean children ending up
in 20 different Western countries, according to state data.
Despite its lengthy history with adoption, the country has yet to ratify a 1993
Hague Convention on child protection because its adoption law, established in
1969, does not meet several preconditions. The accord has been signed by some 73
countries.
"It is an embarrassment that the country has still yet to ratify the convention,"
said Kim Seung-kwon of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, who
participated in the public hearing Thursday. "It is time we really put our heads
together on this issue."
Aiming for a complete revamp of the adoption law by the end of this year, Seoul's
welfare ministry requested that a group of experts conduct research on the
matter. The team, led by Prof. Huh Nam-soon of Hallym University, disclosed the
results of its two-month effort at Thursday's forum.
If the first half of Korea's modern adoption history was about finding and
providing permanent homes for war orphans and children abandoned out of
destitution, Huh said, the second half should be about enhancing the adoption
system so it can provide child welfare and protection services.
"However, responding to this change has been a challenge for Korea over the
years," the professor said. "There cannot be a law that satisfies all four
parties, including the child, the adoptive parents, the biological parents and
the adoption organization. What is important is that all parties consider what is
best for everyone."
In 1988, the year the summer Olympics were held in Seoul, Western journalists
highlighted Korea's adoption program as human trafficking and the country quickly
became known internationally as an "exporter of orphans."
Adoption had until then been treated almost as a state secret, in part due to
criticisms leveled by North Korea that its southern neighbor was selling off its
own children. A cultural emphasis on family bloodlines has also been a major
barrier to increasing domestic adoption.
The government has in recent years made new efforts to make it easier for South
Koreans to adopt, and as a result the number of domestic adoptions surpassed the
number of international adoptions for the first time in 2007. The United Nations
has recommended countries make maximum efforts to keep their children in the
country.
Nevertheless, around 1,200 children continue to leave the country each year.
Critics say South Korea still lacks vital child care services and support for
single mothers.
Current law also falls short of providing adequate protection for adoptees,
according to experts. Rules limiting access to adoption information have made it
difficult for the government to assess whether adopted children are being raised
in a healthy and safe environment.
Such regulations also deny adoptees the right to find their biological parents
when they become adults.
Among the 150,000 adopted Koreans worldwide, about 100,000 are living in the
United States, with 45,000 in Europe and 5,000 spread throughout Canada,
Australia and New Zealand, according to state data. Some return to their
motherland after becoming adults in hopes of finding their birth mother, but face
significant challenges in doing so.
Despite an overall agreement among all parties on Thursday on the need to
promptly revise the law, a minor dispute broke out between adoptees and forum
organizers due to the organizers' failure to provide English translators.
"I asked twice for translation at the public hearing, but I was turned down,"
said Jane Jeong Trenka, a Korean adoptee to the United States and a member of
Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea (TRACK), a nonprofit
organization aimed at healing the relationship between adoptees and Korean
society.
Trenka also complained that the adoptees were not able to voice their opinions on
the issue and were excluded from the research.
"The adoptees were never meant to participate in this research -- there was not
even a box for them to check identifying themselves as regular concerned
adoptees, and the survey was put out in Korean, the language least spoken by
Korean adoptees," she said. "We were not intended to participate in helping to
form these laws and policies that are about our human rights."
A few bilingual adoptees helped translate quietly on the sidelines of the
meeting, but most of the 23 adoptees at the forum appeared lost and confused.
Prof. Huh explained that she had a limited amount of time to prepare for the
hearing and thus failed to find a translator in time.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Yonhap) -- Local experts and adoptees expressed frustration
Thursday at a public hearing on South Korea's antiquated adoption law over the
country's lack of child protection programs and the slow pace of change.
Since the 1950s, South Korea has sent away the largest number of children for
international adoption in the world, with over 150,000 Korean children ending up
in 20 different Western countries, according to state data.
Despite its lengthy history with adoption, the country has yet to ratify a 1993
Hague Convention on child protection because its adoption law, established in
1969, does not meet several preconditions. The accord has been signed by some 73
countries.
"It is an embarrassment that the country has still yet to ratify the convention,"
said Kim Seung-kwon of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, who
participated in the public hearing Thursday. "It is time we really put our heads
together on this issue."
Aiming for a complete revamp of the adoption law by the end of this year, Seoul's
welfare ministry requested that a group of experts conduct research on the
matter. The team, led by Prof. Huh Nam-soon of Hallym University, disclosed the
results of its two-month effort at Thursday's forum.
If the first half of Korea's modern adoption history was about finding and
providing permanent homes for war orphans and children abandoned out of
destitution, Huh said, the second half should be about enhancing the adoption
system so it can provide child welfare and protection services.
"However, responding to this change has been a challenge for Korea over the
years," the professor said. "There cannot be a law that satisfies all four
parties, including the child, the adoptive parents, the biological parents and
the adoption organization. What is important is that all parties consider what is
best for everyone."
In 1988, the year the summer Olympics were held in Seoul, Western journalists
highlighted Korea's adoption program as human trafficking and the country quickly
became known internationally as an "exporter of orphans."
Adoption had until then been treated almost as a state secret, in part due to
criticisms leveled by North Korea that its southern neighbor was selling off its
own children. A cultural emphasis on family bloodlines has also been a major
barrier to increasing domestic adoption.
The government has in recent years made new efforts to make it easier for South
Koreans to adopt, and as a result the number of domestic adoptions surpassed the
number of international adoptions for the first time in 2007. The United Nations
has recommended countries make maximum efforts to keep their children in the
country.
Nevertheless, around 1,200 children continue to leave the country each year.
Critics say South Korea still lacks vital child care services and support for
single mothers.
Current law also falls short of providing adequate protection for adoptees,
according to experts. Rules limiting access to adoption information have made it
difficult for the government to assess whether adopted children are being raised
in a healthy and safe environment.
Such regulations also deny adoptees the right to find their biological parents
when they become adults.
Among the 150,000 adopted Koreans worldwide, about 100,000 are living in the
United States, with 45,000 in Europe and 5,000 spread throughout Canada,
Australia and New Zealand, according to state data. Some return to their
motherland after becoming adults in hopes of finding their birth mother, but face
significant challenges in doing so.
Despite an overall agreement among all parties on Thursday on the need to
promptly revise the law, a minor dispute broke out between adoptees and forum
organizers due to the organizers' failure to provide English translators.
"I asked twice for translation at the public hearing, but I was turned down,"
said Jane Jeong Trenka, a Korean adoptee to the United States and a member of
Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea (TRACK), a nonprofit
organization aimed at healing the relationship between adoptees and Korean
society.
Trenka also complained that the adoptees were not able to voice their opinions on
the issue and were excluded from the research.
"The adoptees were never meant to participate in this research -- there was not
even a box for them to check identifying themselves as regular concerned
adoptees, and the survey was put out in Korean, the language least spoken by
Korean adoptees," she said. "We were not intended to participate in helping to
form these laws and policies that are about our human rights."
A few bilingual adoptees helped translate quietly on the sidelines of the
meeting, but most of the 23 adoptees at the forum appeared lost and confused.
Prof. Huh explained that she had a limited amount of time to prepare for the
hearing and thus failed to find a translator in time.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
