Korean Adoptee - Contemporary Activism

Contemporary Activism

Since international adoption from South Korea took off in the 1950s, KADs are still a very young population. The current adult KADs are among the very first generations in creation of KAD culture, so a lot of the path has to be made while walking it. Since full assimilation was the leading ideology for parents raising the first generation of KADs (Beckwith, 2002), many did not become aware of or further explored their South Koreaness until adulthood, meaning that even adult KADs have a lot to learn. Some have legally reverted back to their Korean names at an older age, while others use it in their e-mail addresses and computer id's.

Some defining characteristics of KAD culture include leaving Korea as an infant or child and being raised outside of the birthcountry, the majority also outside of Korean culture and race, varying degrees of assimilation into new environments, and being given new names and a new mother tongue. However, KADs often remain tied in some ways to their origins, in addition to incorporating experiences from upbringing and new influences. Many common experiences and issues are faced by a large number of KADs, such as racism, stereotypes, feelings of alienation, conflicts about cultural belonging, lack of biological ties, lack of medical history, and unknown past and heritage. Adult KADs are spread out across the globe, but there seem to be a tendency to cluster around certain geographic locations, often larger cities or areas with a high concentration of Asians/Koreans already existing. This has created a number of geographic anchors for the KAD community. Some of these centers are Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Minnesota Twin Cities, New York, and Toronto in North America, Seoul in Korea, and Stockholm, Amsterdam, and Brussels in Europe.

As a result of growing up in predominantly Caucasian areas, some KADs avoided other Asians in childhood and adolescence out of an unfamiliarity and/or discomfort with Asian cultures. These KADs sometimes express a desire to be Caucasian like their families and peers, and strongly identify with white society. As a result, meeting South Koreans and Korean culture might have been a traumatic experience for some (Meier, 1998). However, other KADs, often those raised in racially or culturally diverse communities, grew up with ties to the Korean community and identify more strongly with the Korean aspect of their identities.

Increasingly, adoptive families have relied on an expanding network of resources (adoption agency post-adoption services, Korean culture camps, mentoring programs, Korean language programs, etc.) to incorporate Korean culture into the adoptive family's life and to build ties for the KAD with other KADs and with Korean Americans from an early age. Many adoptive parents today seem to explicitly recognize the importance of helping the KAD to claim a tie to South Korea and Korean culture, and such families often choose to "adopt" Korean culture into their entire family structure via family trips to South Korea, family, Korean language lessons, etc. Some adoptive parents, however, go to extreme of appropriating the KAD experience, presenting themselves as the 'experts' in the area.

Only recently have adult KADs been able to unite and come together in organized ways in order to claim a space and an identity for themselves, opposed to the original beliefs that they would eventually assimilate and become part of the mainstream adoptive culture (Beckwith, 2002). Included in this unification is outreach to younger adoptees, such as volunteering as camp counselors and mentors at Korean culture camps. Many of these initiatives originated from efforts by adoptive parents with younger children, and now have grown into KAD-run enterprises.

One thing that distinguishes KADs from most other groups is the fact that the majority of KADs are not raised by 'their own,' but instead by parents and families of another culture and background. In addition to being racial minorities in society KADs are also minorities in their own families, making it hard for some to turn to adoptive parents for support and advice, particularly regarding issues of racism and stereotyping. Nor do most share their adoptive status with adoptive parents. This has led some KADs to themselves adopt children either from South Korea or elsewhere, while others find spouses and significant others who are also KADs. Many make close friendships and ties with other KADs. This might indicate a strong need to identify with and bond through common experiences when creating their own families and social networks. These enclaves of tightly knit KAD organizations, friends, families and couples is the foundation which future KAD nationalism and ethnicity will build upon.

In 2007, Asian American filmmaker and Korean American adoptee Joy Dietrich released her first full length feature film titled Tie a Yellow Ribbon that follows the story of Jenny Mason (Kim Jiang), a Korean adoptee and aspiring photographer as she spends her days are with white friends and colleagues and her nights with white men. She has no contact with her Midwestern family due to a childhood indiscretion with her white brother, Joe (Patrick Heusinger). She rejects any attachment, dumping men as fast as she can pick them up. Yet she longs for a connection that would make her feel at home—a home that she has lost and is forever seeking. The movie aired nationwide on PBS in May, 2008.

In 2010 the South Korean Government legalized dual citizenship for Korean adoptees.