2024 Overseas Korean Adoptees Gathering: Way back home

2024 세계한인입양동포대회… 모국으로의 여정

There's been a special event here in country this week.
The Overseas Koreans Agency has invited overseas adoptees to share their experiences, providing them with an opportunity to establish their identity as Koreans.
Our Choi Soo-hyung files their story with us.

It took 50 years for Julia, born with the name Park Hae-kyung, to return to her birthplace.

"It's interesting when I landed in Korea, I felt like I was coming home. It's almost like I felt it in every cell of my body that I had finally returned to where I belong."'

She reunited with her birth family in February this year.

"Our books begin at chapter two the introduction, the table of contents the first few chapters are ripped out. Learning the story was valuable, incredibly valuable but I think more so just seeing their faces and seeing how much I look like them and to feel a connection that's unlike I've ever felt."

Heidi, adopted by a U.S. family in 1974 when she was six months old, said that all her curiosity about Korea, which she had intentionally kept hidden, came flooding out all at once.

"It just came at that pivotal moment for me and as I was becoming a big fan of BTS and I was starting to try to learn the language, everything kind of coincided and it was that switch turned on and I wanted to know all the stuff. It's this discovery of this other piece of who I am and to be able to embrace that is very meaningful."

From Tuesday to Friday, the 2024 Overseas Korean Adoptees Gathering was held in Seoul by South Korea's Overseas Koreans Agency.
96 people from 15 countries were invited to share their experiences as Korean adoptees.
The agency stated that the adoptees should be treated as overseas Koreans, not just as adoptees.

"Every adoptee is unquestionably an overseas Korean and eligible for support from their homeland. The Overseas Koreans Agency aims to strengthen ties with adoptees worldwide and Korea. The agency will continue to promote gatherings like this conference to strengthen networks among overseas Koreans.

Julia, Hae-kyung said that this gathering was very important in finding out her identity as Korean.

"So I think that I would like to see us moving forward in this gathering to really establish a network globally with other adopted Korean organizations while also building a relationship with the Overseas Koreans Agency and just feeling more connected to this country, our homeland, the place of our origin."

During the conference, adoptees had the opportunity to experience Korean culture with their families, deepening their understanding of the country.

"Adoptees visiting Korea experience the cultural heritage of their birth country at the Korean Folk Village, a living museum featuring Korea’s traditional lifestyle and performances."

The agency noted that adoptees' children are the ones who are actually embracing Korean culture more with their parents.
Sofia, who loves K-pop and attended the conference with her mother, who was adopted by a Norwegian family, expressed feeling a genuine, familiar connection to Korean culture.

"It was almost like there was a part of me that was empty but I didn't really know until I kind of stepped off the plane and I felt like this is another part of me that I have to kind of reconnect with."

"She was actually the one pushing me a bit. So it's been like a common journey for us to try to connect more with Korean culture and language."

The Overseas Koreans Agency will help these adoptees not only in finding their birth family, but also in embracing their identity as overseas Koreans, and passing down this heritage to future generations.

Choi Soo-hyung, Arirang News.

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2024-05-24, 18:00 (KST)