Monday, September 03, 2007

Promoting Korean Adoption?

Lee Ann Kim is a Korean American anchor and general assignment reporter for KGTV Channel 10 in San Diego. She is currently in Seoul as a jury member for the annual EBS International Documentary Festival. Two English-language Korean newspapers feature articles on her. As always it is interesting to see the angle the media chooses to take when covering issues around adoption and race.

Check out this article first from the Sept. 3 edition of the Korea Times, titled "Kim Pushes For Asian American Cinema". As a first generation Korean American, her experience of racism in the States sounds very similar to many accounts of adoptees growing up in white communities. The Korea Times chooses to omit information about her recent adoption of a Korean boy.

We have to go to the Korea Herald to read about that. In the Aug. 31 interview with Kim, titled "Adopting a child is a beautiful thing",Kim openly derides the social climate in Korea that forces unwed mothers to relinquish their children.

We would be interested to know if these articles are featured in their Korean counterparts (unfortunately our Korean isn't good enough to find out just yet!!). But even if their main readership is English speakers, promoting adoption from Korea amongst Korean North Americans is also an important thing.

Unfortunately MPAK's (Mission to Promote Adoption in Korea) website is outdated, but they feature some profiles of Korean Americans who adopted from Korea. Worth a browse.

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