tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82836741499158537642024-02-19T02:01:10.145-08:00MPAK BlogMission to Promote Adoption of Kids (MPAK) was established to promote adoption, to give a chance for homeless children with loving families. MPAK's aim is to bring about positive changes in the Korean adoption culture by promoting transparency in adoption as opposed to traditional secrecy in adoption. MPAK also serves the children in orphanages with fundraising and provides education scholarships to the orphans so that they can stand in the world.Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.comBlogger189125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-83447048020725468392021-08-11T15:46:00.001-07:002021-08-11T15:46:22.964-07:00The Door Finally Opens for the Children of the Baby Box to Families<p>The Door Finally Opens for the Children of the Baby Box to Families</p><p><i>The practice of sending the children of the Baby Box to institutions for 10 years has now been broken. They now have chance to be adopted and grow up in families. </i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn-cTuMoxujsP_Wkwo4zyA_SYuXgMIcynq6BgPtCisRF3cnUZGYlTYWmgBqIcgsvyPjim6fhaSoEUI-HRZmutAMZy6PUSYiBSgz9gDdy1DgVZ6OdUH8bbndNJtiNImseLwT8K3LzvrwWMF/s680/OhchangHwa%2526KimMiae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="680" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn-cTuMoxujsP_Wkwo4zyA_SYuXgMIcynq6BgPtCisRF3cnUZGYlTYWmgBqIcgsvyPjim6fhaSoEUI-HRZmutAMZy6PUSYiBSgz9gDdy1DgVZ6OdUH8bbndNJtiNImseLwT8K3LzvrwWMF/w640-h354/OhchangHwa%2526KimMiae.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mr. Oh Chang Hwa and his wife hold an infant baby from the Baby Box as they are new foster care parents. Rep. Kim Miae is next to his wife.</div><p>On August 11, 2021, a baby from the Baby Box was transferred over to a new temporary foster family by the Seoul Child Protection Center (서울아동복지센타) to the waiting arms Mr. and Mrs. Oh, Chang Hwa. Mr. Oh is on the board of MPAK-Korea, and the leader for the Korean Adoptive Families Alliance (KAFA), the organization that made this new policy possible.</p><p>While the baby is under the care of the foster family, the Kwanak District will issue a temporary ID certifying the birth of the child, and a determination will be made to which agency the child will be assigned to be adopted. Not sure whether the child will be available for intercountry adoption, but most likely not as there is no official document on birthparents' relinquishment decision.</p><p>Previously, once a baby is abandoned at the Baby Box, the police, under the direction of the Kwanak District takes the baby to the children's hospital for examination. Once this is done the baby is transferred to the Seoul Child Protection Center. The Center then assigns the baby to an orphanage. Once the baby is under the care of an orphanage, the orphanage director has the full custody rights and registers the baby's birth record with his him/her as the guardianship of the child. When this happens, the baby is highly unlikely to be adopted as most of the orphanage directors are unwilling to give up the child for adoption for various reasons. The baby is pretty much stuck in the orphanage until aging out at 18 or at most 24 (current law now enables an aging-out youths to voluntarily stay in their orphanage up to 24 years old, but free to emancipate after the age 18).</p><p>The problem with the old method was that there was a deliberate omission of the requirements in the law by the Kwanak District and the Seoul Child Protection Center to place higher priority in giving the chance to be in homes (either by foster care or by adoption) before sending them over to institutions. However, because of their carelessness and refusal to take additional steps necessary, they simply assigned the children into institutions as this was much simpler and easier to do. They did not pay higher priority in handling these children to find homes, but simply reassigned them to institutions. This malpractice was investigated and discovered by Mr. Kim Ji Young, an adoptive father and the general manager at KAFA. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJZXbesLMTz3paHIfY7M-pOx_7z-FoWHagvi2-EvgvwIcP2SYL_3jPORwhhl3p4xpGSkG1XrNl4FjG09ux9m9aH5fYVX9EpMZ7O16VIYYMjU0-624XEJCWPq1bAr23alNDWtbbAthpEn4/s600/KimJiYoung.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJZXbesLMTz3paHIfY7M-pOx_7z-FoWHagvi2-EvgvwIcP2SYL_3jPORwhhl3p4xpGSkG1XrNl4FjG09ux9m9aH5fYVX9EpMZ7O16VIYYMjU0-624XEJCWPq1bAr23alNDWtbbAthpEn4/s320/KimJiYoung.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mr. Kim Ji Young, an adoptive father, whose hard-nosed investigation and tenacity laid the groundwork that made this possible</div><p>Mr. Kim took the matter to both the Kwanak District and to the Seoul Child Protection Center and challenged them of their negligence to place higher priority of allowing children to be in homes first before sending them over to institutions. While the Kwanak District acknowledged the omission and agreed to fix the process, the Seoul Child Protection Center refused to acknowledge and continued to send children to institutions. Mr. Kim then went to the Rep. Kim Miae and laid out the story of what was happening, and she agreed that something must be done about this. Their solution was to meet with Mr. Oh Se Hoon, the mayor of Seoul.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjREqQcORbLcTpgObdZ6yutHsi5m-O_SUFMsyfUkvKsN6UDBkZmgBWmHBs67-IhsNtbV1TT1z13bsmSEqh-90UV2iBBpEknL6FDYMm4_xs-uOB5RY5nmS66slJkVmNLlEp-rXkofS_qLdf4/s680/KimMiae_OhSeHoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="680" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjREqQcORbLcTpgObdZ6yutHsi5m-O_SUFMsyfUkvKsN6UDBkZmgBWmHBs67-IhsNtbV1TT1z13bsmSEqh-90UV2iBBpEknL6FDYMm4_xs-uOB5RY5nmS66slJkVmNLlEp-rXkofS_qLdf4/w640-h426/KimMiae_OhSeHoon.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Seoul's Mayor Oh Se Hoon accepts the proposal for the protection of the children from the Baby Box by Rep. Kim Miae</div><p>Rep. Kim Miae and Mr. Kim Ji Young met with the Mayor Oh on July 19, 2021, and together they concluded that both the Kwanak District and the Seoul Child Protection Center (both under the jurisdiction of Seoul) violated the due process and the Mayor decreed an order for both to follow the proper procedure of giving higher priority to place the children of the Baby Box to into families (foster or adoption) than to institutions. This was especially important as the mayor Oh was just elected as the mayor of Seoul on April 7, 2021. During the 10 years, there has been around 1300 babies sent to institutions with virtually no chance to be adopted. The other 600 or so babies have been reclaimed by the birthmothers after they were provided with counseling by the staff members at the Baby Box. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4IXMHQdjzzTdg7JYNIhQ5-puxxnshKw9WWYspJ6XvrViU-A0gC_AVXBYWS7rLmm3x-H9VuByUNZOX3IaxBVRC5vNbH4S-mIWtvyB2ag6reKagFyczc8BEeCFbmeDstY2vVPGZeGaAkRDb/s1142/OhchangHwa%2526KimMiae_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1142" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4IXMHQdjzzTdg7JYNIhQ5-puxxnshKw9WWYspJ6XvrViU-A0gC_AVXBYWS7rLmm3x-H9VuByUNZOX3IaxBVRC5vNbH4S-mIWtvyB2ag6reKagFyczc8BEeCFbmeDstY2vVPGZeGaAkRDb/w640-h424/OhchangHwa%2526KimMiae_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mr. Oh Chang Hwa and his wife are new foster parents as Rep. Kim looks on.</div><p>In the span of 10 years, 1300 children have lost their opportunity to homes of their own due to the negligence of the government workers that chosen easy way out to handle many babies that came through the Baby Box. I'm almost in tears just thinking about these children. I hope there is a way to reach back to these children of the earlier period and attempt to find families for them. </p><p>Now that the children of the Baby Box will be given the higher priority to find families of their own, there is another hurdle to cross over. Finding the temporary foster families to take care of the babies, sometimes two to four weeks before they are assigned to the agencies and the babies will be taken care by their own network of foster parents until the children are adopted.</p><p>Thanks to Mr. Kim Ji Young for his hard-nosed efforts in making this possible, and thanks to Rep. Kim Miae and the Mayor Oh Se Hoon for their cooperative efforts to find a solution that should have been there all along.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-41847307315341722972021-07-15T16:02:00.002-07:002021-07-15T16:06:09.645-07:00Korean Government’s Dramatic Announcement to Help Aged-Out Orphans<p><b> Korean Government’s Dramatic Announcement to Help Aged-Out
Orphans</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Korean government made a dramatic announcement on July
13, 2021, on their plan to support the aged-out orphans by increasing the emancipation
age limit from 18 to 24.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having realized
the great sufferings by the youths, the Korean government stated that the
health and welfare of these youth is the responsibility of the government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiebVRvdFPa3LxF5E50WtZRmNIxG1gyYmnAcIyHUHRMSKl3SUbo3Gl756tMHdKvBwbCBU4p4DxpputKI2N4zktIKnvM1NCMW7H0Kjb5jKO6u3xCp1EAR2jv6tRrJiHs-APr8cOcfdwk9hW/s2400/MOHW+Announcement+Image.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2400" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiebVRvdFPa3LxF5E50WtZRmNIxG1gyYmnAcIyHUHRMSKl3SUbo3Gl756tMHdKvBwbCBU4p4DxpputKI2N4zktIKnvM1NCMW7H0Kjb5jKO6u3xCp1EAR2jv6tRrJiHs-APr8cOcfdwk9hW/w656-h294/MOHW+Announcement+Image.jpg" width="656" /></a><br />Vice Minister Yang Sung-il of the Ministry of Health and Welfare making the dramatic announcement with a sign language interpreter in action.</div><p class="MsoNormal">The announcement was welcomed by all, especially those
organizations that have for years advocated for such needs by being voices for
the aged-out orphans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sunhan Mission,
Brothers Keepers, Love Beyond the Orphanage, and the Oak Tree Project are few
of many organizations that have sprung up in recent years giving voices to such
youths. Great thanks to these organizations that have been instrumental in
making greater awareness by public with increased media coverages that have
helped to elevate the public awareness of such problems.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Each year there are approximately 2500 aged-out orphans
leaving their respective institutions in Korea when they turn 18. And most of
these orphans are unprepared to face the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They have been dependent on their orphanage care for most of their lives.
They lived with what they were given without having to earn anything or work
towards the goals of any kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aging-out and being emancipated from orphanage
systems require independent living where they must make decisions on their
own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They must fend for themselves to
find living arrangements, get jobs, or get educated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of them do not fare well, as they suffer
the pressure to survive in the real world where they must look out for
themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many boys turn to crime and girls
to prostitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The result of this is
that there are many unwanted pregnancies where the young mothers abandon or
relinquish their babies for adoption or take them to institutions. And the
cycle repeats again. For many orphans it is a vicious cycle they must suffer
for not growing up in homes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
there are some success stories, but they are rare.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><b>What stood out the most in the government data presented
was the comparison of suicidal thoughts among the aged-out youth was 50%
compared to a normal youth at 16.3%, thus the aged-out youths were 3 times more
likely to think about suicide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Korean government came up with six different areas of
support to strengthen the youths from childhood protection to independent
living:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXn0_Ks6k_-AW8bBr3Za2UuuhCstqHrr43AaiHGxQd5chVUeTbZIx63XcZ_rcapt-yR1VTYWPI2xvD1bhQToVNdrZRdIv9Iod5AAoBX0D0MqtMhTDDUOR4_m2twgW8w-_3YeAiJnHrkmL/s1291/ChangesByKoreanGov_Aged-Out-Orphans.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="1291" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXn0_Ks6k_-AW8bBr3Za2UuuhCstqHrr43AaiHGxQd5chVUeTbZIx63XcZ_rcapt-yR1VTYWPI2xvD1bhQToVNdrZRdIv9Iod5AAoBX0D0MqtMhTDDUOR4_m2twgW8w-_3YeAiJnHrkmL/w622-h438/ChangesByKoreanGov_Aged-Out-Orphans.png" width="622" /></a><br />Graphical representation of the government's roadmap to support the Aged-Out orphans in the future.<br />Source: Korea Ministry of Health and Welfare</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal">1) I<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">ncrease the rights of the protected youths to
stay in institutions up to the age 24 (instead of being forced out at 18) but
make this voluntary as some youths may opt out earlier to live by themselves.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">2) Become Companion by establishing Self-Reliance
Support Center throughout Korea where the youths can turn to for help or
assistance.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">3) Strengthen the Pillar of Independent Living by
ensuring adequate income and residential assistance. This is done by increasing
the funds for aging-out orphans as follows:</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Emancipation funds to increase from a typical
$5,000 per youth to $10,000. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Steppingstone Bank Account for each outside donations
made in a child’s name will be matched 2:1. For example if a child receives an
outside donation of $100 per month, the government will kick in additional 200%,
thus resulting in $300 each child per month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If a child admitted into an institution as an infant and stays for 24
years, the child will have $300 x 12 months x 24 years = $86,400 by the time
the person is emancipated.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">c.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->In addition to this generous program, once a
youth is emancipated, he/she will get increase in the government support from
three years to five years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance,
the typical government support at $300 per month for five years will amount to
additional $18,000 by the time the youth turn 27.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">d.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Housing Support – While this is not completely
free, the housing support makes it very favorable for the youth to obtain and
live with minimum affordable cost. The housing search will begin 8 months prior
to emancipation and have it available by the time the youth separates.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">e.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Bottomline:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While each child’s case would be different, it is likely that an
emancipated youth may depart the orphanage with over $100,000 cash with
affordable housing available.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 4) Support the gradual transition to future by
providing exploration in academic and career opportunities and independent
living. </p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> 5) A</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">llow peace of mind by providing emotional and
psychological support needs.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 6) </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Lay the foundation to support the independent
living by establishing needed laws, change the terms related to aged-out
youths, and create a better communication channels.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">While the announcement by the Korean government is very
welcome, and it is long overdue, and many orphan youths will benefit from this
new program.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, there are a few areas of concern which must
be addressed now or later as the program progresses.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>The critical area of support is needed in youth
mentoring as these youths have grown up since their childhood to adults without
much personal guidance or individual care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The emancipated orphans, even with abundance of funds and housing
available, they are still living alone and need to turn to someone for
guidance.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>The other critical area is the need for the
youths to be properly trained and guided so that they can find appropriate jobs
and hold onto them for long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
one is a challenge as many youths that began new jobs have often quit very
easily or simply not show up to work with no prior notice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The same is true of academics even when they
are given the opportunities to get educated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is all too often among the orphan youths to quit their school without
graduating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are simply not
motivated to study or stimulated as they have no family members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The biggest challenge is not in providing
them with enough financial support, but helping them to be more responsible and
know early on what is right from wrong. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>If an orphan is emancipated with a housing and
with such a large sum of money at hand, why would he/she be motivated to look
for a job?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Getting an education at 27 is
not very likely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, a disbursement
structure must be built in on how and under what condition the youth will receive
the money. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>This program will be a temptation for some
cunning biological parents to put their children into orphanages rather than
raise them at homes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By putting their
children into orphanages, the parents do not have to foot the bills of raising
their children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time their children
age-out of the orphanage system as youths, their children will have large sums
of money and housing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pray no parents
will choose to do this. A system must be in place to avoid this type of abuse.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;"> All in all, I believe this announcement
by the government is a very welcoming for all the aged-out orphans that have
struggled for years to survive. At least
their fear of being alone in the world with no support will be lessened. And that
they will have more time to prepare to get educated and be prepared and trained
to find jobs and stay on will truly help them to be independent. If some type of systems can be put in place
to avoid the pitfalls and abuses, the program can really work. I believe this is a great start but a work in
progress. But most of all, this will be a
path forward for all the emancipated orphans on the way to becoming successful and
productive citizens in the community.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><o:p></o:p></p>Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-10420135237038374152021-06-17T18:07:00.002-07:002021-06-18T09:21:38.330-07:00Korea’s Revised Adoption Process - On the Road to Socialism<div><span style="font-family: times;"><i><b>NOTE of Clarification: I am sorry for the confusion that this blog may have caused all the adoptive families in the adoption process. This blog was not meant to scare any of those that are already in the process. The adoptions that are currently in process will continue to be handled by the agencies. Only the new adoptions that are taking place starting from July 1 will be affected. The only process that will be changed is the process block highlighted in 'red' in the figure below. All the other processes are still being debated and no law has been passed on them yet. Therefore the remaining processes are still being determined. The process described here is what the Ministry of Health and Welfare is pushing for. The agencies are not being closed. They will continue to operate as the government will need to work with them. So there is no worry for those that are already in the process as your cases will not be disrupted by the changes.</b></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><i><b>- Steve Morrison</b></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">----</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">MOHW (Ministry of Health and Welfare) has recently announced their plan on the Revised Adoption Process, which clearly shows the path towards the government controlled Socialistic system. The first portion of the change (the red block in the figure below), is to be enacted on July 1, 2021.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">MOHW’s announcement basically states that majority of adoption duties performed by the agencies in the past will be taken over by MOHW and NCRC and the local government entities.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">MOHW made the announcement only a month before its enactment. There was no discussions nor prior announcement on what they were planning to do. Even the members of KAFA (Korea Adoption Family Alliance) were caught in a surprise, and this happened behind their backs as they have been fighting against this for nearly three years.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br />The key Adoption Process Change Summary Proposed by MOHW and NCRC is supposedly to strengthen the responsibilities by the central and local government regarding decisions on adoptable children, protection, matching, and post adoption services.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNunmgCxAf2mtVpWFHj72ViVCCyvZ-oiCiwjMrzwOmlcvY_E8xFhuYNP-h6xj-cLR77j2XI1UzdsnpAR6C4XnceLzRq2ZoEGgL2xDMDC76OgioKf8Xf0ViB6bPgbQZnCFcFVGNOP5wqSp/s1145/Adoption+Policy+-+P1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="1145" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNunmgCxAf2mtVpWFHj72ViVCCyvZ-oiCiwjMrzwOmlcvY_E8xFhuYNP-h6xj-cLR77j2XI1UzdsnpAR6C4XnceLzRq2ZoEGgL2xDMDC76OgioKf8Xf0ViB6bPgbQZnCFcFVGNOP5wqSp/w640-h268/Adoption+Policy+-+P1.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEt3j0i3fX_T-aodyopSV7QQ6hMfJjBaX7d37t42uEIf696GdLx6gdMAtwNAPEM1x1AdSRYQcOU-j1LvbNETjRHIFF-nYIsnipKUukXxxcdMFJ8uBgIYXWVY_-gUmgX_b0FUThF0nf6-vN/s1090/Adoption+Policy+-+P2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="1090" height="405" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEt3j0i3fX_T-aodyopSV7QQ6hMfJjBaX7d37t42uEIf696GdLx6gdMAtwNAPEM1x1AdSRYQcOU-j1LvbNETjRHIFF-nYIsnipKUukXxxcdMFJ8uBgIYXWVY_-gUmgX_b0FUThF0nf6-vN/w640-h405/Adoption+Policy+-+P2.png" width="640" /></a></div> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><span style="font-family: times;">What seems to have caused such a dramatic changes in the adoption process? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">There is a great amount of mistrust on the adoption agencies by the government and the public. The agencies had years of unfavorable media coverages due to a few adoptive children that died at the hands of adoptive parents, where the agencies were blamed for continued intercountry adoptions, and the agencies usually did not defend nor respond promptly to the critics. Strong campaign to get rid of adoption agencies by the anti-adoption organization groups is one of the main causes of this movement. But perhaps the greatest reason is due to the general political environment in Korea that has rapidly moved towards the Socialism by the Moon government.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Current media coverages of the adopted baby Jeong-in’s abuse and death by an adoptive parent certainly did not help, nor another abuse case brought two months later seem to have cemented the death of the agencies.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br />Adoptive family members of KAFA is putting up some fights to overturn the changes, but not sure how successful they will be. On the other processes, KAFA will continue to fight, especially in the areas of matching children with families, and on the post-adoption services.<br /><br />The bad news of the government taking over the adoption duties from the agencies presents the following dangers:</span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: times;">There is absolutely no infrastructure established at MOHW, NCRC, and local government to do what they are seeking to do starting July 1, 2021. In the words of one of the officials I spoke with, it is typical for the government to enact the law first and then perform the jobs as they learn-as-they-go method.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: times;">All unwed mothers or birth mothers now must go through their local government offices to receive counseling or to give up their babies.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: times;">This will deter a significant number of birth mothers as they do not wish to meet strangers and receive counseling, nor the government staff will have the expertise to help the mothers.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: times;">This will result in greater number of abandonments, deaths, and the increased intake at the Baby Box.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: times;">Culturally this is not acceptable to expect the unwed mothers to report to the local government for their relinquishment desires or receive counseling from the local government staff.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: times;">Government staff lack adoption experience and expertise. It was these staff that put the policy plan together. It clearly shows their lack of insight and knowledge in putting this plan together.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: times;">Staff rotation of two to three years will not establish adoption expertise. New members will have to be educated and perform their duties short period of time before being re-assigned elsewhere. Thus presents a real danger keeping adoption expertise.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: times;">Lack of expertise and knowledge will cause excessive delays in decision making, thus prolonging further delays in adoption.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: times;">Perhaps the biggest issue would be the delays in placing children in homes as young as possible to avoid adjustment/bonding issues.</span></li></ul></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Bottom Line</b> – Fewer children will be placed in homes. The law will put more children at risk.<br /> <br />Latest as of this posting on 6/17/21.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span><br />Rep. Kim Miae <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">(김미애 의원)</span> met with the MOHW minister Kwon Deok Cheol and asked some tough questions such as, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Have you even thought of the countless number of babies that will be impacted by your decision?" "If I was an unwed mother with an unplanned pregnancy, would I be able to get an appropriate counseling at a local government starting July 1st?"</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">This exchange is in Korean only.</span></span></div><div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7t6lMxPjNc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="1277" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWcUofKpYsEB7n9TrMU9H_pLRCbLSl-XHad5zVX2O4C9rDJCbQcX5LVm7yh8rmU7J73jOQqgyn-ZtqtXIeLS9h-XZLO34jhBzp2GC8I5r26Fvl-GffVnNNuPY5HVExpnUn65gRAWvSac2K/w640-h358/Kim_Miae_Schooling_MOHW.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">The minister had very little to say, but only to say he will take all the questions and points made and review/examine further. This has got to be a very embarrassing moment for MOHW to drastically try to centralize all the adoption processes that the agencies have built for over 60 years and take them away. I admit that the agencies are not perfect. They make mistakes every now and then. However, there is no question the government's attempt to implement the socialized structure will only hurt the children. I wouldn't be surprised to hear the increased number of abandonments and more children being given up at the Baby Box. </span></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: times;">But I wish to applaud Rep. Kim Miae for speaking out on behalf of the voiceless children.</span></div><span style="font-family: times;"> <br />The Solution is to let the adoption agencies do their jobs. They are the experts in what they do with very little turn over – thus maintaining expertise. They are the people with compassion and mission to provide for homeless children. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Change what’s lacking rather than a complete replacement with an unproven methods with no expertise.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Regarding the Baby Jeong-in</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">What happened to the baby Jeong-in should never have happened. Recent tragedies with Jeong-in should be viewed as child abuse rather than as an issue with adoption. <br />According to the MOHW Child Abuse and Neglect data from 2019 (see graphic below), of the 30,045 cases of child abuses reported in 2019, the Nonadoptive families’ abuses and deaths of children far outnumber those by adoptive families. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br />Of all the abuses reported, 75.3% abuses is by biological families, Schools/Institutions abuse 16.6%, Relative abuse is 4.4%, Non-Family abuse is 2.2%, Others at 1.2%, and 0.3% by adoptive families.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj640hGPbO8D7jrufAUNmb2DTj1a7itT5o2v_9kMMeEottN8o7ujdLfimR1Xo6ZUzsEAuiIXhZ3yqvTmOgEXciLgo2_UOxhzU_m0DQltfmZG7qcTP8a1vmq2Y_bz_SqV7O8bvv2FYqVK5L/s1208/Adoption+Policy+-+P3.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="1208" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj640hGPbO8D7jrufAUNmb2DTj1a7itT5o2v_9kMMeEottN8o7ujdLfimR1Xo6ZUzsEAuiIXhZ3yqvTmOgEXciLgo2_UOxhzU_m0DQltfmZG7qcTP8a1vmq2Y_bz_SqV7O8bvv2FYqVK5L/w640-h336/Adoption+Policy+-+P3.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Note: Data for 2020 or 2021 is not available. But it is believed that the reports of abuses increased significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic period. But the abuse by the adoptive families is still expected to be around 0.3%.</span><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br />Where are all the people that protested against Jeong-in’s parents when there is no protest against the nonadoptive families that have committed much more abuses and significantly higher number of murders? Why the double the standard?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Why is it such a big issue when an abuse is with an adoptive family and not with biological families that commit abuses in significantly larger number? Why are the adoptive families judged with a different yardstick? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Many adoptive parents have become sensitive as there have been reports of some local officials calling many adoptive families to check on them. This has hurt many adoptive parents as they are now looked on with some suspicion. It's a hard time to be an adoptive family in Korea these days.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><br /></div>Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-16207146674012348262021-06-10T10:10:00.002-07:002021-06-16T11:32:07.775-07:00The Movie "Forget Me Not - A Letter to My Mother" - My Perspective<p><span style="font-family: arial;">I heard of this movie, "Forget Me Not - A Letter to My Mother" a month ago while I was in Korea. Here is an article on her interview.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2021/06/07/entertainment/movies/Sun-Hee-Engelstoft-Forget-Me-Not-A-Letter-to-My-Mother-international-adoption/20210607155100378.html</span></p><div class="gmail_default"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: -0.8px;">When Sun Hee Engelstoft, a Korean-Danish filmmaker, decided to make a documentary in Korea, she had planned for it to be a happy tale about a young woman's journey to becoming a mother. S</span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: -0.8px;">he had strong convictions that unwed mothers in Korea wanted to keep their children, but always ended up working out differently.</span></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -0.8px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: -0.8px;">While this may be true for some unwed mothers, significant majority of </span></span><span>unwed mothers really do not. This is evidenced by so many babies being abandoned or given up for adoption even after multiple counseling and advices at the Baby Box and at the agencies. Even after two years after the initial adoption process, and being notified multiple times to take their babies back by the agencies, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the children's court, hundreds of unwed mothers do not want to take their children back. Only a handful of them change their minds during the long process.</span></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="font-family: arial;">So her statement, "<span style="letter-spacing: -0.8px;"><span style="color: black;">I’ve never met a woman who actually wanted to give away her child..." is her own statement, but in reality most unwed mothers do not want to keep their children. </span></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.8px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.8px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;">In truth, most women want to hide their child birth history as this will be a liability to them when they want to get married, or continue with their education or keep their job. Of course the unacceptance by her family is definitely a reason. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -0.8px;">Another reality is that there are many teen unwed mothers that are simply not ready to be mothers or don't want to. </span><span style="font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -0.8px;"> For most unwed mothers, they simply want to get out of the burdens.</span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.8px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.8px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;">What's interesting is that Ms. Engelstoft's birth mother didn't want to meet with her because the birth mother wanted to remain anonymous. I feel so bad for Ms. Engelstoft for having been rejected, but this is not unusual. Of all the contacts made with birth parents by adoptees searching for them, around 30% of the birth parents do not wish to meet their birth children. The birth parents, in most cases have married with children and moved on. They do not want their past history to come back and risk their existing families and relationships.</span></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.8px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -0.8px;">Perhaps the biggest drawback with this movie is that she is just one-sided in terms of her view of adoption. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -0.8px;">Ms. Engelstoft </span><span style="font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -0.8px;">should have met and spoke with many other women that have given up their babies, and this would have helped her to look at a broader perspective in terms of the complexities involved in unwed mothers that give up their babies. Her problem is that she wants to portray all unwed mothers as women that want to keep their babies, but in reality this is far from the truth. </span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -0.8px;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -0.8px;">As for her, she should have considered what would have been the alternative if she had not been adopted. She most likely would have wound up in an orphanage, suffer the lack of parental love and care, and experience the loss of emotional support and the loss of stimulus for the development of intellect and education (it is a well known fact that children that grow up in institutions suffer delayed mental and emotional development). </span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -0.8px;"><br /></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -0.8px;">She would be labeled as an orphan, ridiculed by her peers in school, and face discrimination from the society, and would be forced out of the system at age 18 and live the rest of her lives with so much struggle and loss. </span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -0.8px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.8px;">Her other statement, "</span><span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.8px;">“instead of building on the infrastructure, supporting their population and taking care of our own children, they have been sending the problems away.” is a </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.8px;">naïve statement</span><span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.8px;">, or a willful rejection of reality to fit her narrative against intercountry adoption. The true reality of the infrastructure in Korea is that if you don't get adopted, you go into an orphanage. Would she have preferred this instead? </span></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -0.8px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="gmail_default"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial; letter-spacing: -0.8px;">It is so unfortunate that during the eight years of making this film, she has not even attempted to understand the hearts of the thousands of orphans in institutions that long for families of their own. I still remember visiting an orphanage and in my conversation with the orphans there I asked the question, who among you would like to be adopted? Without a single exception every one of the children raised their hands. </span></span></div>Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-15535706771740643462021-06-07T10:20:00.004-07:002021-06-07T10:20:39.815-07:00Let Us Meet At SEOUL - Meet Me Via Zoom<p><span data-offset-key="dps2f-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am honored and privileged to be a guest speaker at "Let Us Meet At SEOUL" - a program by Rev. Sung Chul Park of the Korean Adoptees Ministry (KAM). I will share my adoption story and the current development/</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">happenings</span><span data-offset-key="dps2f-2-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the intercountry adoption law in Korea. This is followed by a demonstration on making "Bibimbap", a delicious Korean dish that is widely gaining world attention.</span></p><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4alab" data-offset-key="crk80-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="crk80-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="crk80-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4alab" data-offset-key="2t97m-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2t97m-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="2t97m-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">The Program is scheduled for June 19th (Saturday) at 1 PM PST, 2 PM MST, 3 PM CST, and 4 PM EST.</span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4alab" data-offset-key="67rni-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="67rni-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="67rni-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Below is the Zoom information:</span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4alab" data-offset-key="e5vdj-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e5vdj-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span class="py34i1dx" style="color: var(--blue-link); font-family: inherit;">https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88539565487</span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4alab" data-offset-key="7mabk-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7mabk-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="7mabk-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">ID: 88539565487</span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4alab" data-offset-key="brl12-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="brl12-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="brl12-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4alab" data-offset-key="7ubf0-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7ubf0-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="7ubf0-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Hope to meet many of you at the meeting.</span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4alab" data-offset-key="f0sma-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="f0sma-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="f0sma-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></div></div><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="4alab" data-offset-key="2ofk3-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2ofk3-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="2ofk3-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">-Steve Morrison</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2ofk3-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="2ofk3-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2ofk3-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="2ofk3-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2ofk3-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjhgMiHlsz-jTSWvnqCPjThyauc7ShopCAsPfhZcDE6IKNcATFHxhXKqFPRGwOqpmiqLYpx5R3j0Zq-Jok_vhgogwBCTX8sQv6Gk2ImQY6D2F8E7MakzzrxPhe4u3RkneW2VChyiw_D7z/s2048/SEOUL+Poster+%25236+Final+June+2021.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjhgMiHlsz-jTSWvnqCPjThyauc7ShopCAsPfhZcDE6IKNcATFHxhXKqFPRGwOqpmiqLYpx5R3j0Zq-Jok_vhgogwBCTX8sQv6Gk2ImQY6D2F8E7MakzzrxPhe4u3RkneW2VChyiw_D7z/w494-h640/SEOUL+Poster+%25236+Final+June+2021.png" width="494" /></a></div><br /><span data-offset-key="2ofk3-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div>Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-67152185989062238952020-05-21T10:05:00.000-07:002020-05-21T10:05:05.853-07:00Korean Adoption Travel Restrictions Due to COVID-19<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">(Note: The topic below will be discussed in great details on Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 9:00 PM EST (6:00 PM PST) at the MPAK Café via
Zoom meeting, hosted by MPAK. You are welcome to join the meeting personally presented
by Steve Morrison by requesting the Zoom meeting information by contacting the
email at: <a href="mailto:mpak.care@gmail.com">mpak.care@gmail.com</a> – It’s being held
Today).</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The Intercountry adoption in Korea is virtually
standstill due to COVID-19.<br />
At the beginning of the year, most of the children being sent abroad were the remaining
cases from last year’s quota. Based on
the three adoption agencies (Holt, SWS, and Eastern), the combined number of
children that have gone home is fewer than 80 by the end of March 2020.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The Quota for 2020 was set at around 300 – the maximum
allowable number of children the agencies are allowed to adopt abroad. There is no way the agencies will meet this
quota due to a significant slowdown in domestic adoption due to COVID-19
pandemic. The quota is set by the Ministry
of Health and Welfare (MOHW) each year based on the number of domestic adoption
in the prior year. The typical
rule-of-thumb used is the 2/3 Rule, meaning if the agencies place 300 adoptions
domestically, MOHW will allow the agencies 200 children to be placed abroad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">All adoption process has been impacted by
COVID-19. Starting from April 1, 2020, the Korean government has placed a
14-Day Quarantine Period on all foreigners visiting Korea, and on all the
Korean nationals returning to Korea from foreign visits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The Family Court’s adoption process has slowed
down as well due to the limited number of judges and staff present at the court
to keep the ‘social distancing’. All these and more have significantly slowed
down the adoption processes, not only in intercountry, but in domestic adoptions
as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Three Options available for adoptive parents:</span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Delay the adoption process<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">By choosing to wait out until the
travel restriction is lifted or COVID-19 clears<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Expected delays of 5 – 6 months or
more<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Go to Korea when notified and go through
the Quarantine period by choosing extended stay in Korea<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The Option most families choose<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Go through Quarantine period of
14-days after arrival<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">After the Quarantine period, visit
the agencies and the Family Court<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Typically two months stay in Korea<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Pick up the child and return home<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Financial burden – a big challenge,
$100 / day (meal & lodging)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Cheaper option may be exercised after
the 14-day period<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Go to Korean when notified and go
through the Quarantine period, but not choosing the extended stay (Not
recommended)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The first visit of 14-day
Quarantine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Show up in Court<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Fly back to the US<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Travel back to Korea and undergo
another 14-day Quarantine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Pick up the child and return<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Not recommended. 28 days of quarantine. If you can afford it,
choose extended stay<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The Travel Requirements<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">All visitors to Korea must download
and install the <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">“Self-Quarantine
Safety Protection App”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">This is Mandatory action issued by
the Ministry of the Interior Safety<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Must abide by the guidelines issued<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Must conduct self-diagnosis for 14
days<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The Consequences of violating the
Quarantine<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Face immediate
deportation for:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Those who refuse to download the
app<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Those leaving the designated
quarantine area without permission<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Also<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Those who detour or go out of the
designated route from the airport to the quarantine facility will be fined up
to $10,000 or One Year in Prison<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">At the Boarding Gate</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Thermal check to detect high body
temperature measurement at or above 99.5⁰F (37.5 ⁰ C)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Brief Interview<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Based on the thermal check and the
interview, if a problem arises, the person may not be allowed to be boarded<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">If high body temperature is
detected, two more measurements will be made 10 minutes apart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">If the temperature goes down,
he/she may be allowed to board<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The government designated Quarantine facilities</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">14-Day stay is required<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">$100 per day includes lodging and
meals<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Paid by the visitors<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">•</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The travelers must sign</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the facility
acceptance agreement before boarding</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">•<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Local regional cities may impose
additional examination or restrictions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">The information provided is valid and active as
of this posting on May 21, 2020. Most of the travel information is from the LA Korean Consulate website at </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">(</span><a href="http://overseas.mofa.go.kr/us-losangeles-ko/index.do">http://overseas.mofa.go.kr/us-losangeles-ko/index.do</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">If there is a change in the policy, I will update
the information with another post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Please don’t get discouraged. Please treat this
experience as if this is happening to your birth child. Don’t let anything stop
you from getting your child home. Stay safe
and stay healthy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">(For more information and discussion, contact </span><a href="mailto:mpak.care@gmail.com" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">mpak.care@gmail.com</a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> for the Zoom meeting
information Today, May 21, 2020)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><br />
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Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-35291378176546522902020-05-03T00:34:00.000-07:002020-05-03T00:34:35.310-07:00The COVID-19 and the Adoption Laws Impact on Korean Adoption<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This article appeared on the May 1st issue of the Joong Ang Daily in Korea. The article gives a detailed look at the recent COVID-19 pandemic impact on both the domestic and intercountry adoption in Korea. The article also looks at the negative impacts of the Special Adoption Law of 2012 that have sent more children into institutions. Joon Ang Daily is one of the major newspapers in Korea and widely read. </span><br />
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<span style="border: 1pt none; color: #3c3e40; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0in;">Original Article Source:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>https://news.joins.com/article/23767064<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 15pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 15pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">Children Continue to Grow While Adoption is Virtually at Standstill<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 15pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">The Reality of Adoption Shadowed by ‘COVID-19 Tragedy’<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">By Sang Un Lee, Editor in Chief, JoongAng Daily, Posted May 1, 2020<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Z4oD34UfbUreldeU3gmUmCxrWUk-RaJLJ79hRLF873k_sVS-Un2QTR2ALxGH4g-8kpW_Mu3LL_Y8hY0fKZQZ2pL_RtbkASaf_g_soqsDxpfjBtTiIYDkBU689yUhw0GW8xm11jp2di1U/s1600/Minsoo%2526FosterMom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="559" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Z4oD34UfbUreldeU3gmUmCxrWUk-RaJLJ79hRLF873k_sVS-Un2QTR2ALxGH4g-8kpW_Mu3LL_Y8hY0fKZQZ2pL_RtbkASaf_g_soqsDxpfjBtTiIYDkBU689yUhw0GW8xm11jp2di1U/s640/Minsoo%2526FosterMom.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; letter-spacing: -0.25pt;">Minsoo, who is slated to be adopted abroad, is playing with his foster mother Lee Keum Sun. At 18 months old, his adoption is delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that worries many who care for him. </span><span style="color: #737475; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; letter-spacing: -0.25pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">An 18 months old boy Minsoo (pseudo name) lives with his foster family in Suwon City. If it were not for the COVID-19, he may already be in the US with his family. But now it is uncertain when he will be allowed to leave on a plane. Minsoo is growing leaps and bound each day. He considers his foster parents to be his by calling them mommy and daddy and can speak a little. He considers the foster parents’ children like his older brother and sister and is attached to them. </span><br />
<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">The adoption agencies note that a typical 15~16 months old child will have a tough time adjusting to the new environment. Their situation is a little different than the children adopted earlier. For Minsoo, it will be a challenge to be able to attach to the new adoptive family, and may have to long endure the pain of separation from the foster parents. </span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.85pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.85pt;">Travel challenges on visiting parents limit their visits to court<o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.85pt;">Some parents give up the adoption process<o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.85pt;">More restrictions on top of already lower adoptions due to the adoption law<o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
<li><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.85pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 13pt; letter-spacing: -0.85pt;">Urgent solution and policy revision is needed<o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">Minsoo was born in October 2018 and was relinquished by his birth mother at the Social Welfare Society (SWS). SWS spent 5 months of efforts to find a family within Korea for domestic adoption, but without success (The 5 months wait period is in place by law). He was then matched with a family overseas. His adoption process was begun in July 2019. According to the Special Adoption Law of 2012, the adoption must be approved by the adoption court. It takes around 4~5 months for the court to finalize the adoption. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">SWS expected that the court would summon the couple to show up in March and that the adoption would be finalized in April. However, the court date was set to April 10<sup>th</sup> due to the COVID-19 pandemic that slowed down the court process. Also, because of the COVID-19 travel restrictions (foreigners arriving in Korea must undergo 14 days of quarantine at the visitors' expense) imposed by Korea, the couple could not keep their appointed court date. Now the court has reset the date to mid-June. If everything goes well, Minsoo will be able to leave by July. However, due to the uncertainty with COVID-19, additional delays may be possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "tahoma" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "malgun gothic" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">Ms. Lee Keum Sun (50), the foster mother who cared for Minsoo stated, “I am concerned that he may turn two years old. He needs to quickly adjust to the new family and forget his situation here. Typically, when a baby leaves at 15<sup>th</sup> month they cry a lot by clinging on to me. If he goes after 20<sup>th</sup> month it would be a more painful experience for him. The foster mother’s eyes teared up as she stated this. Ms. Lee has fostered eight such children during the last nine years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsalK7lUXeCKCX12NgnFm2oYBQYIgGl31dByrKA4tMNyBqwzvHI1gvh_iSKuG8SsZ1NZLgIg9YHPcyG59s_qj64YmkiLEH8UR45fmz-cgGF_YHae2MM99X8PFFX1f5meYmQa3UZrKGGsaT/s1600/KimJinsook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsalK7lUXeCKCX12NgnFm2oYBQYIgGl31dByrKA4tMNyBqwzvHI1gvh_iSKuG8SsZ1NZLgIg9YHPcyG59s_qj64YmkiLEH8UR45fmz-cgGF_YHae2MM99X8PFFX1f5meYmQa3UZrKGGsaT/s1600/KimJinsook.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ms. Kim Jin Sook, President of Eastern Social Welfare Society</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">Like Minsoo, SWS has around 30 cases of adoptions that have been delayed due to COVID-19. And the situation was the same with the two other adoption agencies, Holt and Eastern. The domestic adoption process was also halted briefly due to ‘social distancing’ exercised by the court.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;"> </span><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">The adoption delays not only cause problems for children, but the agencies are struggling because of it. The agencies are faced with extra costs of overheads and social service costs that eat into the adoption costs (domestic adoption fees are government provided; intercountry adoption fees are paid by the adopting parents). Ms. Kim Jin Sook, the president of the Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS) adoption agency stated, “Up to now, we were barely making ends meet. But now this has happened. We are doing everything we can to survive, even considering unpaid furloughs for our staff. There seems to be no end in sight.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;"> </span><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">The agencies reached out to the government for financial assistance, but it has fallen on deaf ears. The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) stated that “We are considering ways to loosen regulations so that the agencies can use their assets as business expenses.” MOHW also added, “Taking into account that it is a special situation, we would like the court to be flexible in the method and period of investigation and hearing, but the government administration cannot engage in the judicial affairs.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">Even before the COVID-19, the number of adoptions has already plummeted.</span><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;"> </span><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">This impacted the agencies in unfavorable ways. In 2012 the number of adoptions was 1880 (Domestic 1125, Intercountry 755).</span><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;"> </span><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">In 2018 it plummeted to 681 (Domestic 378, Intercountry 303), which is 1/3 of what it was.</span><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;"> </span><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">The reduction was not due to the reduction in the number of unwed mothers giving up their children.</span><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;"> </span><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">It was mainly due to the law and the polices.</span><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;"> </span><span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">The Special Adoption Law allowed adoptions only for the children that have been registered into the unwed mothers’ family registry. If a child is not registered, the agencies cannot intake the child for adoption. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">This has resulted in the sudden jump in the number of newborn babies being abandoned at the ‘Baby Box’. The government set an upper limit on the number of overseas adoptions to the agencies with the intention of reducing intercountry adoption by promoting domestic adoption. But the domestic adoption did not increase. In fact, it decreased significantly. When the society at large is reluctant to have more children, thus resulting in the decreasing birth rate, it is difficult to expect that there will be more families that will adopt and raise the children. The process to adopt became much more difficult due to the court requirements and proceedings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; letter-spacing: -0.6pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The newly elected representative Ms. Kim Mi Ae has adopted two children. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; letter-spacing: -0.6pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">She hopes to change the adoption law that will send children to families rather than institutions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">Mr. Oh Chang Hwa, the leader of the Korea Adoptive Families Alliance (KAFA) stated that “The law was responsible for putting so many children into institutions rather than giving them the opportunities to grow up in families. I cannot help but question whether this law and the policies are really in the best interest of children or not.” </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">In response to this, Mr. Sung Chang Hyun of the Ministry stated, “We cannot turn back the policy of complex adoption process. We must support the concept of single-parent family structure, support continued adoption educations to overcome the social stigma against adoption, and tackling other issues is the way to go. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">The newly elected representative Ms. Kim Mi Ae, an attorney who has dealt with the adoption law issues for many years stated, “It is because of the people that are so out of touch with the reality, and are skewed by the vague idealism, making the laws behind their desk have made the adoption so much more difficult.” Attorney Kim has adopted two children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3c3e40; font-family: "Malgun Gothic", sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt;">The month of May is the Month of Family. It celebrates the Children’s Day and the Parents’ Day, and the National Adoption Day on May 11<sup>th</sup>. It is hoped that the citizens will become more aware of the tragedies brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impractical laws and policies that have so negatively impacted adoption.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span>Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-80682429884921599522019-07-02T19:46:00.001-07:002019-07-02T19:46:40.735-07:00Parents Show Up Suddenly, and Snatch Away the Orphanage Separation Funds from Aging-Out Orphans <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03_1I_csBvJ3uWaNiIWquFNbMxpdHku_lQR0hrXusf5jr3zTUz_vsGMFf7xwncyDdFnenTABDzk5q6j0w2zKo4Bclv4uw-WKtMjvVHRpcnp6QhQAZoVBXB9uJ-ajuYH_MnK8ox7pGiTUL/s1600/Donga_Orphan_Fig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="640" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03_1I_csBvJ3uWaNiIWquFNbMxpdHku_lQR0hrXusf5jr3zTUz_vsGMFf7xwncyDdFnenTABDzk5q6j0w2zKo4Bclv4uw-WKtMjvVHRpcnp6QhQAZoVBXB9uJ-ajuYH_MnK8ox7pGiTUL/s640/Donga_Orphan_Fig.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Graphics: Orphans leave orphanages when they turn 18. For the last four years around 1000 orphans aged out each year. Of the 242 orphanages with 11,665 children. The pie chart shows where the orphans turn to for help at the time of separation. Deciding alone is 60.3%, orphanage and support center 20.3%, families/relatives 11.3%, friends 5.2%. miscellaneous 2.9%.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><b>Parents Show Up Suddenly, and Snatch Away the Orphanage Separation Funds from Aging-Out Orphans </b></div>
</b><br /><b>갑자기 나타난 부모.. 보육원 퇴소 아이들의 자립정착금 가로채 </b><br /><br />Original Article at Donga.com published on 7/1/19: <a href="http://www.donga.com/news/Main/article/all/20190703/96296073/1">http://www.donga.com/news/Main/article/all/20190703/96296073/1</a> <br /><br /><ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Orphanages give out $3,000 - $5,000…Parents with no news for 10 years show up </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parents entice “If you give me the money you can live with me” …then disappear with the money. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even the orphanage directors ask for the Money </span></li>
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<br />Choi XX (20) is just barely getting by with hard labor these days. Some days he has no money and he begs those around to buy him some meals. But when Choi left an orphanage two years ago he had over $10,000 in his possession. $5,000 from the orphanage, and the other $5,000 was what he saved. <br /><br />But his birth mother took all $10,000. Choi was admitted to an orphanage when he was an 8th grade student. But when he was about to leave the orphanage his mother came calling. The mother never once visited her son during the five years he grew up in the orphanage. But she asked Choi for the money to help out with his new step father in a hospital. She also promised Choi that she will have him live with her if he gave the money over. Choi gave the entire $10,000 to his mother. But once the mother got the money, she cut off all contact with him. Choi stated, “I regret so much for giving my mother the money.” <br /><br />According to the regulations outlined by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the orphanages are required to pay out the orphanage separation fund ranging $3,000 - $5,000 to the aging-out orphans. They are usually given 18 years old when they leave the orphanages. There are some exceptions for those that go to college or have special needs the separation may occur after 20 years old. <br /><br />Choi is not an exception as there are other cases of parents that suddenly show up to take the money and run. KimXX (24) has suffered a similar situation as her mother showed up at the time of her separation from an orphanage. The mother never once contacted Kim during her 11 years at the orphanage. The mother said to Kim to live together in the future. Kim followed her mother to Kwang-ju City. The mother took away the $5,000 fund Kim had. And the mother disappeared soon after. She even changed her cell phone number. <br /><br />Mr. Kim Sung Min (34) is the founder of an organization called ‘Brothers Keepers’ that helps out the aged-out orphans, and he labels these types of parents as ‘Separation Fund Hunters’. He also said that the biological parents are the worst offenders of snatching the separation funds. Because there are many similar cases, some orphanages are now informing the parents that no funds were issued to the aging-out orphans to protect them. At one orphanage, one biological father kept asking about the status of his about-to-be aged out child’s funds availability, and a worker simply circumvented the situation by saying no such funds have been issued. So the father complained to the city hall and the orphanage worker had to go to the city hall to explain the situation. <br /><br />There are cases where orphanage directors have even asked for the money from the orphans aging out of the facilities. KangXX (26) was asked by his orphanage director to ‘leave the funds for your younger friends remaining in the facility’. The orphanage director explained that this was the least Kang could do since he was cared by the orphanage for many years. Kang therefore left his funds of $3,000 in the orphanage. <br /><br />According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, during the last four years (2015-2018), there were around 1000 orphans that leave orphanages due to reaching the separation age. The ministry said that they are conducting surveys based on these youths. The survey deals with the use of the separation funds, job situation, their income level, and other questions related to their lives after leaving orphanages. However, the survey is not successful. Those who take the surveys are the ones that have successfully integrated into the society. But those that have hard time getting by in the society, they do not respond to such surveys. Mr. Choi Sang Kyu of the ‘Good Neighbor’ organization that supports the aging-out orphans, stated that ‘there is hardly any reports on the orphans that are struggling gets noticed by the authorities. So in truth, there is really no viable survey for those orphans that have aged-out of the institutions. <br /></span>Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-20046617210735052622018-08-28T22:02:00.001-07:002018-08-28T22:06:07.651-07:00A Shocking Interview by a Grown Orphan - Orphan on Orphan Abuses<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is from the <Weekly IMPeter> blog site in Korea.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Special Interview: Mr. Jun Yoon Hwan of Orphans Rights Alliance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">IMPeter is a blog name, and he is very widely followed by over 600,000 readers in Korea.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For those who understand Korean, please visit the link at: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<a href="http://theimpeter.com/44567/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">http://theimpeter.com/44567/</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The title of the video is "Sexual Abuse and Physical Abuse is a Part of Everyday Culture in an Orphanage".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For the first time ever, an organization to voice the orphans' rights and human rights has been formed in Korea. A former orphan himself, Mr. Jun Yoon Hwan, founded the 'Orphans Rights Alliance' to wipe away the tears of orphans that are abandoned by their biological parents. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr. Jun shares the horror of living through the abuses and sufferings in his orphanage while the adult care takers turned their faces, and the abuses were what he considers as 'something normal' in their daily lives. For example, he witnessed a sexual abuse by some older boys against a first grade girl at the orphanage, and he even saw an older boy sexually molesting a younger boy as well. Tragedies such as these are pretty common place in an orphanage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr. Jun of the Orphans Rights Alliance states that the abuses like these have become a daily culture in the orphanages, and it still continues to this day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Ministry of Health and Welfare claimed that these types of abuses may have happened in the past, but they don't exist anymore. But contrary to what the Ministry says, the sexual and physical abuses by the stronger orphans against the weaker orphans continue to be an issue in many orphanages.</span> Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-1803309084195200622018-01-22T11:19:00.002-08:002018-01-22T11:19:58.800-08:00PETITION - PLEASE SIGN: Let the Children Grow Up in Homes, Not in InstitutionsPLEASE SIGN BY GOING INTO THE FOLLOWING LINK. Please spread it widely.<br />
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<a href="https://www.change.org/p/let-the-children-grow-up-in-homes">https://www.change.org/p/let-the-children-grow-up-in-homes</a><br />
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Rep. Nam Insoon, a Democrat in the Korean Government, and a contingent of people and organizations that are anti-adoption, have recently held a Forum on January 16, 2018 to propose an amendments to the current Special Adoption Laws that will result in significant reduction in adoption (both domestic and intercountry) and would force more children to grow up in institutions.<br />
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The proposed law takes away the adoption services provided by the agencies such as Holt, Eastern, and SWS, and 20 other domestic adoption agencies and forcing them to turn over their adoption service duties to be managed and controlled by the Ministry of Health Welfare (a branch under the Korean government), or a designated government agency. The last thing we want is more bureaucratic process that will be so inefficient, slow and worst of all, run by the people that have no love or care for such children. It will just be day-to-day duties for the government workers, that will not best serve the children's needs.<br />
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In order to discourage and to reduce adoption, the law also mandates that birth parents have the rights to demand information on their children from the adoptive parents, and this has caused a lot confusion and anxiety among the good adoptive parents. Imagine an adopted child, being approached later by a stranger that claims that he/she is the child's parent. This would be especially hard if the child was adopted secretly and he/she doesn't know about the adoption (as this is still the most case with the adoptive families in Korea).<br />
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<strong>All this is leading to one thing...more children growing up in institutions.</strong> This all stems from the anti-adoption individuals or organizations that accuse the presence of adoption as the cause of separation of children from their birth parents. We have always advocated that adoption is simply a response to already separated children.<br />
The law amendment language has been drafted, and is undergoing a few public hearings before it gets elevated to discuss in the Assembly and voted.<br />I urge all who share in the value of protecting the orphans, and all the adoptees and adoptive parents that really care for the children's rights will not stand by as this amendments only threatens the lives of homeless children, and their rights to chances at life and opportunities, and their rights to loving families.<br />
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<strong>Therefore, we call on Rep. Nam Insoon to DROP the proposed amendments immediately and completely, and STOP threatening the lives of thousands of homeless children. Also know that the proposed amendments to the adoption law is not in the best interest of children.</strong><br />
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<strong>We demand the following from Rep. Nam Insoon and the Government of Korea:</strong><br />
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<strong>1. We demand that in the future when an amendment is recommended for the adoption law, please include adoptees (both domestic and intercountry adoption), adoptive parents, adoption agencies. </strong> Do not exclude them from an early discussion as you have at this forum. You have only included those individuals and organizations that are opposed to adoption.<br />
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<strong>2. We demand that no effort should be made to deliberately stop the intercountry adoption. </strong> We support all efforts to reunite a child with his/her biological family. We also support that domestic adoption should be given a priority over the intercountry adoption program. However, if the previous options are not available to a child, he/she should be given a chance to be adopted overseas. In fact, this is the priorities set by the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. There should be no consideration made to slow or block the intercountry adoption simply because of the national shame. <strong></strong><br />
<strong>To a child, the best option is a loving home, whether it be in Korea or abroad.</strong><br />
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<strong>3.</strong> <strong>We demand the rights to privacy that a birth/adoption information</strong> can only be provided when the adoptive parents agree if a child is under 18. If an adoptee is 18 or older, the decision can be made by the adoptee without the parental approval.<br />
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<strong>4. We demand that the adoption services provided by the agencies such as Holt, Eastern, and SWS not be taken away by the government.</strong> These agencies have 60 years of serving the homeless children, and they serve the children with their hearts. If the government takes away the adoption services, more problems will arise due to lack of expertise and individual care needed. There is no insurance against greater abuse or neglect experienced if the government performs the adoption services. According to the Hague Convention, one of the functions of the government is to accredit and audit the adoption agencies periodically. But allows leaving the adoption services to the accredited agencies. Let them do what they do best and don't take away their duties.<br />
To all the readers, please sign this petition. Share this widely and Let the Children Grow Up in Loving Homes, not in Institutions!Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-16958255408859384662018-01-21T17:31:00.005-08:002018-01-21T17:31:43.605-08:00The Protest Statement to Rep. Nam Insoon of Korea<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 6px;">
The Protest Statement by the Adoptive Families in Korea, in response to the Forum to amend the current adoption law in Korea to undermine the good adoptive families and the attempt to reduce/close adoption, thus forcing more children into institutions.</div>
<br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">Please spread this widely to all the adoptees and adoptive families.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br />----------------------<br /><br /><b>The Protest Statement - </b></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b><i>From the Members of the Emergency Adoptive Family Task Force Against the Amendments to the Special Adoption Law Initiative</i><br /><br /><b>The Forum Organized by the Anti-Adoption Groups is Invalid.</b></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>The forum on ‘The Policy Change and Response After the Adopted Children Abuse and Death, Centered on The Daegu-Pochun Adoptee Abuse and Death Case’ was held on Tuesday, January 16, 2018. The main panels in the forum consisted mainly by the anti-adoption advocates that have long campaigned against adoption.<br />The forum missed the greater perspective of adoption, which should have included a greater diversity of experiences or opinions or values, but was designed to give greater platform to the people that centered on the negative aspects of adoption based on a couple of exceptional cases.<br /><br />Within the word ‘Adoption’ there is a life and rights of a person. We as adoptive families acknowledge that no matter what the reason is, for a lone child who has no one to care for, the best solution is to give the child a family through adoption. The Hague Convention of Adoption considers the institutionalized care as the last option for such a child.<br />However, the forum was mainly centered on the people and the organizations that totally disregarded the intent and the spirit of Hague.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br />By proposing a set of surprise amendments, this was not a forum but an announcement of an agenda that was already planned and decided by the organizers.<br />The forum should be about bringing people with diverse opinions and backgrounds, and hopefully come to an agreeable and unified conclusion for good. To do this effectively, it is a general rule that a forum organizer must provide the forum materials to the public well ahead of the meeting.<br /><br />However, the forum organizers provided only a select portion of the proposed special adoption law amendments, which came to the full light on the day of the forum. The organizer was not transparent with the forum agenda nor make it public, and with the few information they provided ahead of the meeting, they surprised all of us with the other materials.<br /><br />The forum went against the common sense and against the values that are typically held at such an event. And the forum was conducted in a manner that gave advantages to the individuals or organizations that were against adoption, and did not give equal footing to the others that had the different opinions, and in fact even blocked others from making comments. Thus, the forum that was supposed to be about a frank discussion on a certain topic turned out to be a one-sided affair.<br /><br /><b>The Proposed Amendments to the Special Adoption Law Goes Against the Human Rights and Life.</b><br /><br />The forum in question was held three days ago. We did not have enough time to digest the proposed amendments to the special adoption law that was made public on the day of the Forum. However, there were some very disturbing contents in the proposed amendments that stood out.<br /><br />First, it was on the Article 30 on the Rights of Adoption Information. This law would require the adoptive parents to release all adoption information when a birth parent a birth relative demands it. All the adoptive parents in attendance were alarmed at this. This law would give the rights to the people who ‘willingly’ gave up their parental rights to later approach the adoptive parents anytime and demand the information from the parents that now hold the true legal parental rights. This is a gross violation of human rights.<br />The amendment states that the Rights of Adoption Information will be applied to all intercountry adoptions, but our concern is that there is no clear language that this will not be applied to all the domestic adoption cases.<br /><br />Second, the proposed amendments to the special adoption law is also designed to block and reduce the number of adoptions significantly, thus this is an anti-adoption bill. The proposed law is evil in that has stripped down all languages that give positive supports to adoption and proposed that it should be run by public system, and make the adoption process more difficult, and if possible discourage adoption altogether. However, it was interesting to hear that a representative from the Ministry of Health and Welfare at the forum comment that even if the adoption was run by a public system there is simply no infrastructure or capability to operate such system by the government.<br /><br />Therefore, we the adoptive parent representatives from all the regions of Korea have gathered and discussed the contents of the one-sided proposed amendments to the special adoption laws on Thursday, January 18, 2018, and view the proposed amendments goes against our human rights and threatens the lives of the children and their rights to homes.<br /><br /><b>Our Demands</b><br /><br />We have therefore established ourselves “The Emergency Adoptive Family Task Force Against the Amendments to the Special Adoption Law Initiative” on that day and have decided to provide a collective response to the Rep. Nam Insoon as follows:<br /><br />1. We demand an apology for holding a forum that was centered on anti-adoption agenda on January 16, 2018.<br /><br />2. We demand an apology for completely and deliberately ignoring and excluding adoptive parents during the process to develop the amendments to the special adoption law.<br /><br />3. We demand the immediate stop to push the Amendments to the Special Adoption Law Initiative.<br /><br />4. We demand an open forum to include the adoptive parents, domestic and intercountry adoptees, and the adoption agencies to come together to discuss and develop the amendments together, rather than a forum that excludes the other important groups.<br /><br />We the adoptive parents declare that if you do not comply with our demands as stated above, the collective forces of all adoptive families from all corners of Korea will join in a unified protest on the streets to voice against the inhumane amendments proposition to the special adoption law.<br /><br /><i>From the Members of the Emergency Adoptive Family Task Force Against the Amendment to the Special Adoption Law Initiative </i></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>Friday, January 19, 2018</span>Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-83606087668411779832017-06-06T15:14:00.000-07:002017-06-06T15:14:02.989-07:00When a Family Member Opposes Adoption<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I just recently received a following message from a couple in the process of adoption.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>"Hello, My wife and I are Korean-Americans (both of us were born in the US to Korean immigrant parents) and we are in the process of adopting a child from Korea. Although initially both of my parents expressed their support of our decision to adopt, my mother has recently confessed her displeasure and discomfort with our decision. I was wondering if you had any helpful information or websites written in Korean that I could send her so she can learn about the beauty of adoption and possibly hear some testimonials from Korean adoptees living in the US. I believe she is so caught up in the stigma in Korean culture around adoption that she will miss out on the opportunity to love and embrace her grandson. Please let me know when you have a chance. Thank you, H.XXX"</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">I replied back to H as follows:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><em>"Please go ahead and don't look back. Do not be swayed by your mother. You and your wife are the ones that will raise the child. You do not even need to ask for their permission. Now why do I say this?</em><br />
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<em>Do we ask our parents whether we can have children or not before going to bed? They come whether we planned or not, and certainly didn't get permission from our parents to have them.</em></div>
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<em>So adoption is like that. We need to treat it as another method that God allows us to have children. Some are born by wombs, some are born by hearts.</em></div>
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<em>Having one's children have never been someone else's decision, but yours only to make. So don't look back but push on.</em></div>
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<em>So happy for you."</em></div>
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I also followed up with another message:</div>
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<em>Another note,</em></div>
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<em>"There have been several cases I know where the grandparents had lots of reservations, and when the children came home they wouldn't even glance a look.</em></div>
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<em>But later on, they slowly warmed up to the children, they would use an excuse just to come and see the children.</em></div>
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<em>We humans are so limited with our own understanding as to what is good for us.</em></div>
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<em>It is quite normal to fear the unknowns.</em></div>
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<em>When the situation is thrust upon us (as in your case to your parents), they (your parents) will accept the child and would later go crazy.</em></div>
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<em>I've seen this happen time and time again.</em></div>
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<em>For example, a grandfather in Korea would not even take a glance at a newly adopted child and even refused to put the child under their family registry.</em></div>
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<em>But gradually his heart melted and later became the child's biggest advocate.</em></div>
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<em>I'm sure it will happen to your parents as well.</em></div>
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<em>Best wishes."</em></div>
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</span><br />Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-10741286141918747352017-03-29T23:18:00.000-07:002017-03-29T23:18:57.819-07:00Status of the Slow EPs in Korea<div>
I haven't written my blog in a while, and I apologize for making all of you wait so long regarding why the EP process has slowed down so much in Korea. A few families have written to me wanting to know what's going on as they anxiously wait for their children to come home.</div>
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So far the Korean government branch of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has not requested the agencies to submit a certain number of EPs that they normally accept from the agencies around February of a new year. But it's already the end of March and no request from MOHW was given to the agencies to submit a new batch of EP applications.</div>
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Just this wee, one or two agencies went ahead and submitted the EP applications to MOHW regardless. From what I hear, the MOHW recently underwent a new staff rotation program, and all the staff members have been replaced except for one, thus creating some learning curve for the new members, thus the slow EP process.</div>
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However, there have been some EPs cleared this year, but these are the ones that were submitted for application on last November 2016. But for 2017 there has not been any EP batches submitted until this week.</div>
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So it's going to be a slow process for the time being, but expect the staff members to learn the ropes soon. I think another reason may be that the whole country has been so absorbed for months by the impeachment of the President Park, and much of the country did not move with their normal activities because of the national emergency.</div>
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Stay tuned.</div>
Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-63405783135245461782016-05-16T23:16:00.001-07:002016-05-16T23:16:24.551-07:00Life of Orphans Aging-Out in Korea
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The original
article is in the Donga.com news, a major newspaper in Korea. </span><a href="http://news.donga.com/3/all/20160516/78110828/1"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://news.donga.com/3/all/20160516/78110828/1</span></a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp5upgRMyo3d1giovQeP1VTqbJb0VBoKSGdyoG90Y0xJZitAef3YaLL2M0qs-CFCrK0fEEFpn27B6oAY78MXKOr7ojbLXFDp31ge_-RXz3I6sqAEwP9-MK0WwNUXWtvkR7M2UaN1wVctM_/s1600/All-Alone-Youths.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp5upgRMyo3d1giovQeP1VTqbJb0VBoKSGdyoG90Y0xJZitAef3YaLL2M0qs-CFCrK0fEEFpn27B6oAY78MXKOr7ojbLXFDp31ge_-RXz3I6sqAEwP9-MK0WwNUXWtvkR7M2UaN1wVctM_/s640/All-Alone-Youths.jpg" width="406" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Kim (19, right) who is All-Alone, walks with Lee (17) who will age out next year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was
abandoned by his birth parents when he was seven, and grew up in an orphanage
in Ansan City in Kyung-gi province. When he turned 18 he had to be on his own
(in Korea he is 19 in Korean custom). His entire asset was a meager $5,000. He
didn’t even know how to rent a room, and didn’t even know how to pay the electric
bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He felt abandoned again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Kim Min Jae
(19), just faced the Adult Day (Morrison’s note: </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Malgun Gothic",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Malgun Gothic"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">성년의</span><span lang="KO" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Malgun Gothic",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Malgun Gothic"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">날</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">, this day was established in 1973, went through some
modification with the third Monday of each May being the Adult Day in Korea,
applies to only those turning 19 to welcome them into adulthood of responsibility
in the society). He stated, “I realized what it means to be all alone. Instead
of being congratulated for turning into adulthood, the correct description is
how I struggled and survived a year.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kim is one
of those ‘All-Alone Youths”. They are also called ‘The Terminated Youths’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The social welfare law requires them to be
emancipated from an institution once a youth turns 18.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each year, there are approximately 2000
youths that become ‘All-Alone Youths’.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only
support they get is the separation pay of $5,000 from the government. Kim was
able to save up an additional $1,000 over the years, but he faced a stiff
challenge to find a room of his own in the Ansan City where he lived for the
past 12 years. He finally settled in the city of Kyung-san in the Kyung-buk
province where he knew no one.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Finding a
place to live was a daunting task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
did not know that he had to work through a real estate agent and sign the
necessary documents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first he spent a
week at a sauna facility (Morrison note: Sauna or </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Malgun Gothic",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Malgun Gothic"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">찜질방</span><span lang="KO" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">is a place that people often take bath or sauna and be able
to stay for short term), but his water and power was cut off after three
months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t know the concept of
paying the bills. He said, “I would often find some kinds of mail in my box but
I put them back in the return box, and didn’t realize those were the bills.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said, “No one at the orphanage ever taught
me these things. I remember sobbing in a dark room with no electricity.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The entire
asset he had was run dry only after a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The room deposit took $3,000, and he spent another $1,000 buying the
necessary items to live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wanted to
study to become a dog trainer and enrolled in a college, but after factoring in
the government grant of $2,000 to pay for the $3,200 tuition fees, he was left
to pay $1,200 to pay the remaining enrollment fee, and even his emergency fund
went dry.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
difficulty of hard living came as quickly as the loneliness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The basic cost of living of $550, which included
$200, with telephone fees and foods were hard to meet each month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He worked a part time at a coffee shop but
quit after two months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He couldn’t take
his time away from studying, which was needed to qualify to maintain his government
grant. Due to his part time job, his basic aid in the cost of living stopped as
well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He seriously thought about
withdrawing from the school. Nowadays, to save for the cost of school, he has
cut down on his food expenses. To hang around with his circle of friends is out
of question.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kim is not
so bad as compared to others. Chun (23) was separated from his parents for 20
years, but could not apply for the basic cost of living due to his parents
showing enough income (Morrison’s note: Many children in orphanages have
parents living, but never visit or support their children). He applied for a
basic cost of living to attend a college, but he was told “Your parents must
first submit the ‘Termination of Parental Rights’ to qualify.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He quit the school and got a job instead. Because
of the financial difficulties faced by so many All-Alone Youths, most of them
choose to work instead of education just so they can survive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is believed that 77% of the orphan children
desire to go to college, but only 24.1% actually do. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It isn’t
that there is no education provided for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Age-Out Youth Service provides
several educational programs through the orphanages, but the youths usually
choose topics like ‘Expressing Myself’ or ‘Cleaning Our House’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The education programs designed to help with
self-sufficiency, such as ‘How to Apply for a Rent’ is chosen by only 1.5% of
the youths, and ‘Managing Your Money’ is chosen by less than 10%. There are
other small care centers (such as group homes) that are not obligated to teach
the similar programs to their youths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Age-Out Youth Service worker stated, “We are still in the process of
developing more effective pre-separation education programs for the aging-out youths”.
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is most
needed is the financial helps for these youths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A person working at ‘The Beautiful Store’ said that “I have been saving
since 2011 to individually support these youths, but the overall attitude of
the people in Korea is that ‘Why help the grown up adults?’, which is prevalent
in the society and that’s not easy to deal with.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also said, “Even though they have turned
into adulthood, we must not forget that they are the youths that still need our
help and attention.” Park Sul-mi, the Self-Sufficiency Program Director of the
Dong Myung Orphanage stated, “Not only the economic help is needed, but they
also need post-separation counseling and care services as well.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-79865165414685521812016-01-07T22:38:00.004-08:002016-01-07T22:40:16.236-08:00The Reality of the Illegal Adoption Market in Korea<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Reality of the Illegal Adoption Market in Korea<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This report was translated from the article that was
published in the January 7, 2016 issue of The Chosun Daily, a New York Times
equivalent newspaper in Korea. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
reporter went undercover to reveal the reality of the illegal adoption market
in Korea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I have stated several times before, the special adoption
law took away the rights of those adoptive parents in Korea that still wish to
keep their adoptions secret.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was
one of the biggest reasons for such a significant decline in the number of
domestic adoption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What used to be over
1400 domestic adoptions per year dropped down to less than 700 domestic
adoptions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I also did mention that
illegal internet adoption is quiet sizable and would probably make up the
difference not seen in the recent years after the passage of the special
adoption laws in Aug 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This article
by the Chosun Daily seems to validate my earlier claims on the real reasons why
the domestic adoption was halved by the special adoption law. Many parents in
Korea still wish to keep their adoptions secret, and the current law does not
allow it, thus making many to choose illegal adoptions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The original link of the story in Korean can be found in: http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2016/01/07/2016010700364.html<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaGvC11AT0uluiYUQO08bf70xlni83x6OEfvh2n6eyNRNaw_T4zgJKZDYi6wrqnEa_5PTzpONZIb2axGPz74QGN8of5bHyWLQl4ECo8S1jZHTlwrNKeQHX-8WEQzFDxkcIe2exaU3Gi2-G/s1600/ChosunArticleFigure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaGvC11AT0uluiYUQO08bf70xlni83x6OEfvh2n6eyNRNaw_T4zgJKZDYi6wrqnEa_5PTzpONZIb2axGPz74QGN8of5bHyWLQl4ECo8S1jZHTlwrNKeQHX-8WEQzFDxkcIe2exaU3Gi2-G/s400/ChosunArticleFigure.jpg" width="215" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reporters note:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“When a message “I
want to adopt” was sent, the cost of introduction was $1000, an unwed mother
signed a statement of “no contact”, the adopting mom acted as a birthmother in
an OB/GYN clinic…and registered the baby under her name.”<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This illegal adoption happens
several tens of times a day…<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The parents that want
to adopt secretly, and the unwed mothers that want to erase their pasts<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever since the news of a woman in her early 20s took in six
children by paying money and even registering the babies under her family
registry, the truth is now coming out on the existence of illegal adoption
market.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On January 6<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup> The Chosun Ilbo (Newspaper) discovered
a posting on a portal site by a high school girl with a message ‘I am 8 months
pregnant and is there a way to adopt away my child without my parents finding
out?’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a response message that
said, ‘I will help you. You may call me’ and left a phone number to call.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An undercover reporter responded to the posted phone number
with a message ‘I want to adopt a child without going through an agency. Is
this possible?’<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Within a few minutes there was a phone call from a woman in
her 50s. She said, <br />
“I work in the new born baby section of an OB/GYN clinic as a nurse, and I want
to introduce you to an unwed mother who may abandon her baby and I feel bad for
this child.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The reporter told her that ‘I would prefer a girl’, and the
woman called the reporter back in an hour saying, “I want to introduce you to
an unwed mother who lives in Seoul Kangsuh District.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She asked the reporter to set the date and
place where the baby can be transferred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When asked how much she charges for the introduction, the
woman broker said, “I usually charge around $1000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because the unwed mothers want to erase any
memory of giving birth, you do not need to pay the unwed mother.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The current special adoption law requires the adopting
parents to adopt through an agency, and receive the adoption approval ruling
from the family court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To do this it is
necessary to have a birth registration by the birth parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the method the broker uses does not involve
the court system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When an unwed mother is pregnant, the adopting mother
registers her own name as the birthmother at an OB/GYN clinic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a baby is born, the baby is registered
under the woman who is adopting. This is so that when the new mother reports the
baby at a local government office, she needs the birth registry as a
proof.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the adopting mother was
acting like a birthmother before the baby was born, there was no need for her
to follow the legal method of adoption process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The broker stated, “This is how I introduced two or three
other unwed mothers’ babies before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
never need to worry about anything as I make an unwed mother sign the paper that
says, ‘I will never see the baby nor the person adopting the child’. So all the
backdrop work is done by me so you don’t need to worry.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This type of adoption is practiced by the adoptive parents
that do not want their children to learn of their adoptions later in life. But
if one follows the legal form of adoption, his social ID card documentation will
have a record of ‘adoption’, which might reveal to the child that he/she was
adopted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not only the transfer of a child between the two persons is
involved, but they can adopt by choosing a gender or the blood type, and this
is another reason for many choosing illegal adoption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the unwed mothers that do not wish to be
identified and remain anonymous on their birth giving, the advantages of the
illegal adoption market are very attractive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The experts all agree that this type of adoption is being
carried out rampantly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the internet
portal site, they call this type of adoption as ‘personal adoption’, and each
day there are multiple tens of postings by people that want to practice the ‘personal
adoption’.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The broker I spoke with said, “If you let me know the gender
and the blood type preference I can find a baby for you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first the broker said to the reporter “I
may have an unwed mother who is 30 weeks into her pregnancy living in Daegu”,
but when the reporter said that she wanted a girl, the broker then introduced
an unwed mother that had the similar months of pregnancy that lived Seoul Kangsuh
District.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 2014 there were 637 children adopted legally in domestic
Korea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A person in an adoption agency
stated that she saw some adoptive parents that came to them because they couldn’t
find ways to illegally adopt children.</span> </span></div>
Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-82253669716285329282015-12-24T00:42:00.001-08:002015-12-24T00:42:30.816-08:00Adoption, EP, and Court Status in Korea as 2015 ClosesI realize that I haven't shared for a long time the current adoption happenings in Korea. I apologize for the delay in providing the latest information. But to be frank, not much improvements or good news have been available to share. <br />
<br />
It appears that the total number EPs granted for the year 2015 is going to be around 320 - 330. This is the combined total for all three agencies. This is consistent based on the projected domestic placements, which is around 440 for all three agencies. Again the '2/3' rule still in place. I need to revisit these numbers next year and give you more accurate count.<br />
<br />
But the Family Court process is flowing smoothly with no issue so far. I'm told that the court process (from the time of the paper submission to the finalization) takes around 2 - 3 months nowadays. <br />
<br />
Ever since the Special Adoption Law was placed, hundreds of babies are continuing to be abandoned, and frequent news stories of the babies being killed and discarded in Korea are still common place. There is some movement to revise the law to enable the agency heads to register for the babies being abandoned and make them available for at least the domestic adoption.<br />
<br />
The number of children available for adoption is continuing to decline. While there are some factors to consider such as better sex education to avoid pregnancies, some unwed mothers choosing to keep their children, and many illegal internet adoptions, but I am quite positive that the greatest contributor to the reduction in the number of children is due to the sheer number of abortions taking place in Korea. While there is no definite data on this, many unwed mothers choose to abort their babies rather than face the complexity of registering their babies and face the risk of raising them in a society that does not embrace them well.<br />
<br />
Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-42473252687787760382015-11-19T02:13:00.000-08:002015-11-19T02:13:07.026-08:00Interview with Mr. Kim, Sunup - An Orphan Who Never Got Adopted<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a story of my childhood friend Kim Sunup, who never got adopted and aged out of the Holt orphanage at 18. A few years ago, I had an interview with him as I wanted the returning adoptees participating at the 2010 IKAA Gathering in Seoul to meet him and hear his side of the story of not having been adopted and aged out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Each time I visit Korea, I try to meet with my friends Kim Sunup and Kim Chulsoo (whose story I featured in my previous blog). The three of us were very close to one another at the orphanage we lived. I got adopted out at the age 14, but my two friends never got adopted and stayed in Korea, and struggled through their lives. While I was driven to study in a major university to become an Aerospace Engineer, half way across the ocean were my two friends, as they lived at one time as homeless in the streets.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Today Sunup owns and operates small sign making business nearby Il-San City, where he is able to make ends meet. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtbfquWZ5puyTrPDwXaUQa-B0warEXfcsGRJeXMRoW2j72p_a0RE7AlVrs-4ztFFh4D5V0eP2Fs1eBNzLdUE5qtR9ych7w1qeI8YjptcJ2UrmKhHGGHuMu7M6nlXm1AsjC5IQHzX4I1-QI/s1600/20151111_195156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtbfquWZ5puyTrPDwXaUQa-B0warEXfcsGRJeXMRoW2j72p_a0RE7AlVrs-4ztFFh4D5V0eP2Fs1eBNzLdUE5qtR9ych7w1qeI8YjptcJ2UrmKhHGGHuMu7M6nlXm1AsjC5IQHzX4I1-QI/s640/20151111_195156.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">I met up with Kim Sunup at Seoul Station in Korea two weeks ago.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Here is the interview content with my friend Kim Sunup</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">Interview with Mr. Kim, Sunup<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">An Orphan Who Never Got Adopted<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">(Interviewed by Steve Morrison at the IKAA
Session, Aug 4, 2010)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">Q: Please introduce
yourself<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">본인</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">소개를</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">해</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">주십시요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">A: </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">저는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">나이가</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">56</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">세</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">이며</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">, </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">현재</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">일산에서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;">인쇄</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">/</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;">도장</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">사업을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">있습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">결혼을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">해서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">아내랑</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">별</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">어려움</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">없이</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">살고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">있습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am 56 years old and live in Il-San and I
have a printing and stamp carving business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am married and live comfortably with my wife.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><o:p></o:p></span></i> </div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">Q: Did you live in an
orphanage as a child?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">김선업씨</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">께서는</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">어렸을때에</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">고아원에서</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">사셨지요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">A: </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">네</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그렇습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, I did.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">Q: At what age were you
admitted to the orphanage, and how long did you live in that facility?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">몇살때에</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">고아원에</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">들어가게</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">되었고</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">, </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">또한</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">몇년동안</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">시설에서</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">자라야</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">했는지요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">A: </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">저는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">_7</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">살때에</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">고아원에</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">들어갔습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그리고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">저는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">11</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">년동안</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그곳에서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">살았지요</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was admitted to the orphanage at 7 years
old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I lived there for 11 years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">Q: How was your experience
in living in the orphanage?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">고아원에서의</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">삶은</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">어떴나요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">A: </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">지금</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">기억해</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">보면</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">좋은점도</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">있었고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">않좋은점도</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">있었다고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">봅니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">좋은점은</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">많은</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">친구들과</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">살면서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">재미있는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">시간을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">많이</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">가졌던</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">기억이</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">납니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">반면에</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">저는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">늘</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">가정을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그리워</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하면서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">살아왔는데</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그때당시</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">제</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">친구들</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">한분</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">한분씩</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">미국으로</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">입양을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">가는것을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">보면</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">무척</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">부러웠지요</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I think about it now there were some
good memories as well as bad memories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The good memories are the times when I spent with my friends having lots
of fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the bad memories were the
times when I sincerely wished that I had a family of my own, and I still
remember watching my friends get adopted abroad one by one and remember
feelings of envy in my heart.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">Q: When did you come out
of the orphanage?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">고아원에서</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">언제</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">나오시게</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">되었나요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">A: </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">제가</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> 18</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">세</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">되었는데</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하루는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">저희를</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">담당하는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">원장님이</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">와서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">갑자기</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">저보고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">나가라고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하셨지요</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. 18</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">세가</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">되었으니</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">이제</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">나가야한다고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그래습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">저는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그때</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">말을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">듣고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">너무나</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">당황했습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">When I turned 18, my
orphanage director who was in charge of us came to me suddenly and said that I
must leave the facility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because I have
just turned 18 the director said that I had to leave. When I heard those words
I was very shocked.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">Q: Did the orphanage
provide any preparation for you to leave?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그럼</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">고아원에서</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">퇴소할때에</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">어느정도의</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">준비를</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하고</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">나가셨나요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe; mso-hansi-font-family: GulimChe;">A</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">: </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">전혀</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">준비가</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">없었습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">저를</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">내보내면서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">제게</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">10</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;">만원</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">원을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">주셨습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그러나</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그것은</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">몇일가지</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">않았지요</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">또한</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">제가</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">어떤</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">기술을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">배운것도</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">없고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">취직을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">할</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">수</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">도</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">없는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">상태에</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그냥</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">저보고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">나라가</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">해가지고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">몹시</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">불안했습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Absolutely none.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The director gave me $100 when he sent me
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that lasted only a few
days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was very upsetting to hear that
I had to leave since the orphanage had taught me no special skills and I could
not be employed.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">Q: So it must have been
very difficult for you to survive day to day.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 11.25pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">시설에서</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">나온후</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하루</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하루</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">살아가기가</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">너무도</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">힘들었겠네요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">A: </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그럼요</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하루</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하루</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">살면서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">제</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">식사가</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">언제</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">어디서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">올지도</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">모른</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">상태였죠</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그때</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">정말로</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">힘들었습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every day I had to survive not knowing where
my next meal would be coming from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was the most difficult time of my life.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">Q: Was it typical at the
time that when an orphan turns 18 he had to leave the orphanage?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was this practice applied to just your orphanage
or was it applied to all the other orphanages in Korea?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그당시에는</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">고아들이</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> 18</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">세가</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">되면</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그렇게</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">나와야</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">했나요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">김선생님께서</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">계신</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">고아원만</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그랬나요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">아니면</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">한국에</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">모든</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">고아원이</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">비슷하게</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">아이들을</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">퇴소</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">시켰나요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">A: </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">제가</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">기억하기로는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">대부분의</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">고아들이</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그런</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">상태로</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">퇴소</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">당했지요</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As far as I know that was typical of how the
orphans were forced out.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">Q: Mr. Kim, you have my
deepest admiration and respect that despite all the incredible sufferings that
were dealt to you and you still did not give up and have raised yourself up to
where you are today.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">엄청난</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">고통과</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">역경을</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">겪으면서</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그래도</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">포기하지</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">않으시고</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">열심히</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">살아온</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">결과</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">오늘</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">이렇게</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">당당하게</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">서</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">계시는</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">김선업씨를</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">존경합니다</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">Q: However, do the
orphanages still require children to leave institutions when they turn 18?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그런데</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">지금도</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">고원에서는</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">아이들을</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> 18</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">세가</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">되면</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">내보내나요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">A: </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">지금도</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그렇게</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">있는것으로</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">알고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">있습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">다만</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">요새는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">퇴소하는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">아이들을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">위한</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">준비를</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">더</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">많이</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">해주고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">있는것</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">같습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">더</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">많은</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">생활비를</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">주고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">또한</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">기술도</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">가르쳐서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">보낸다고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">들었는데</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">, </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그래도</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">너무나</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">부족합니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그래서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">시설을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">퇴소하는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">아이들은</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">사회에</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">나가서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">힘들게</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">살고있는것은</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">아직도</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">사실입니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that is still the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But nowadays they are doing more to prepare
the outgoing orphans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe they
give more money and teach them some skills, but that is still not enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it is still very challenging for them to survive
in the real world once they leave the orphanages<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">Q: If you had a wish in
the past what would that have been?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">김선생님께서</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">과거에</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">바램이</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">있었다면</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그것은</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">어떤것이었을까요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">A: </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">저는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">공부를</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하기</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">좋아했습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">공부를</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">열심히</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">해서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">훌륭한</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">사람이</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">되기를</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">꿈을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">가진적이</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">있었지요</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그래서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">저는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">미국으로</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">입양을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">가기</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">원했습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그러나</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">저에게는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그런</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">기회가</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">없었지요</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">고아로서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">한국에서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">대학을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">간다는것은</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그때당시</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">괭장히</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">힘들었습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoyed studying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a dream of becoming someone and have a
successful life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had hoped that I
would be adopted to America. But I wasn’t given that choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time it was almost impossible for an
orphan to go to a college.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">Q: As I listen to your
story, I feel so sorry that you weren’t given that opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you have anything to say to all the
visiting adoptees here?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">네</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">, </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">김선생님의</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">말을</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">들으니</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">정말로</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">아쉬운</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">마음이</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">앞서네요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">그럼</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">이시간</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">이자리에</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">계시는</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">해외입양인들에게</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하시고</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">싶은</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">말씀은</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">무엇일까요</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">A: </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">해외입양인들이</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">건강하게</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">자라서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">한국을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">나오게</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">된것을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">볼때에</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">너무나</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">자랑스럽습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">제가</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">갖고</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">싶은</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">기회를</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">여러분들은</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">입양을</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">통해서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">갖게</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">되었습니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하시는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">일에</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">혹은</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">더</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">공부하는</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">일에</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">열심히</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">하셔서</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">보다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">더</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">훌륭한</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">사람들이</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">되기를</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">진심으로</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="KO" style="font-family: GulimChe; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">바랍니다</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: GulimChe;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am very proud of the fact that all of you
have grown healthy and that you have returned to visit Korea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You were given the opportunity that I so
desired to have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I sincerely wish
that all of you will do your best in your profession or your studies and strive
to be a greater person.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-14131835568011736702015-11-12T01:41:00.000-08:002015-11-12T01:41:17.782-08:00National Adoption Month - Why It Hits Me So Close<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the National Adoption Month is being celebrated in the US, I am in Korea this week for the MPAK-related works that include the board meeting, general assembly meeting, an event at an orphanage, KAS, and visiting the adoption agencies. I have also visited Pastor Lee and the Baby Box and a few more places and individuals to visit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night I met up with my two childhood friends that I used to know while growing up in the Holt Orphanage in Il-San. These two friends, Kim Chulsoo, and Kim Sunup were two of my closest buddies, who were very smart but never got adopted, and they are severely crippled in their legs. When I met them last night both of them were walking while supported by crutches.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The National Adoption Month seems to bring out many adoptees to share their narratives for and against adoption, and most adoptive parents are sharing joy in their adopted children. Some of the narratives I saw seemed to ridicule me doing the adoption promotion as a mission, while many more are continuing to support what I do. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My equation that Adoption = Opportunity is so true and it has hit me so close again through my friend Chulsoo last night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For several years, I have been meeting with my two buddies each time I visited Korea. Mostly out of fondness for them and the memories and bonds we shared growing up together at Il-San (where I lived eight years with them before being adopted at 14) and to catch up with their lives. But partly because...and this is hard to swallow and admit...out of guilt that they have suffered so much while I was being loved and educated in the US. While I was busy fulfilling my dreams in space technology, my friends aged out of the orphanage system were thrown into the world they were not prepared to live when they turned 18.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For this blog, I want to focus on Chulsoo only. I will post another blog that has an interview with Sunup I did earlier. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My childhood friend Kim Chulsoo, who was never given the chance to be adopted shared with me his extraordinary life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chulsoo was given nothing when he left the orphanage (nowadays, orphans aging out are given anywhere from $2000 to $5000). Through some helping hands Chulsoo wound up going to a center for the handicapped to learn some skills, but this didn't last long. While he had a job, he was discriminated and mistreated, and his boss skipped some salary payments. Chulsoo told me that he worked in a factory where the factory owner didn't even pay the employees for months, only promising them that he will pay as soon as possible. Nowhere else to go, he stayed with the factory hoping to get paid. The next month the factory closed down and the owner ran off without paying the workers. He experienced this a couple of more times in different work places. Chulsoo suffered from malnutrition and abuse wherever he went. This was especially hard because he was a special needs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chulsoo eventually turned to alcohol, and he drank and drank. He said that he was filled with hatred for everyone. He despised everyone around him and got into many fights. He confessed how he was envious of me when he heard that I was being adopted. He despised the world that disowned him, and lived with other homeless people and slept in the subway stations with other beggars. He became a beggar, and got into fights with other homeless almost every day. Each day for him was a battle for survival.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is how Chulsoo lived at one time, in a subway in Seoul as a homeless.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was shocking to hear the suffering he went through, and I was speechless. I was almost moved to tears listening to him. While I was in the world of comfort and security in the US, I was oblivious to the suffering of my childhood buddy half way around the world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Through my adoption, I was given an opportunity immeasurable. Through my adoption I met a wonderful family and someone to call Mom and Dad, and the siblings that made my growing experience an enjoyable one. Through my adoption I got the best education possible, and the world of opportunities came pouring in, including an opportunity to go to a graduate school with a fellowship. Through adoption I became somebody and I was able to stand tall. And through my adoption I can speak for other homeless children, the right a child has to the opportunity I had.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Chulsoo had none of this and no one cared for him, and he was alone in the world. He turned into an animal that was not of his character as he blended into nobody, a homeless, a reject by the society that had thrown him into a turmoil, and he so despised his life. He even contemplated suicide, but something kept him going, perhaps a dim hope of love, or perhaps a thin ray of hope that something better might come his way tomorrow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The better tomorrow came when he decided to leave the homeless life and look for a work. He was able to get employed at a crystal chandelier manufacturing plant. There he met his wife, who also is a special needs suffering from polio. At first they lived together, then a daughter came. At the beckoning of Molly Holt who really loved Chulsoo, they were finally married. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I asked him how he overcame the drinking problem. He said that at one point it got so bad even after the marriage. He would throw tantrums by throwing everything out the window and watched his wife and daughter cry. Chulsoo said that one day the image of his wife and the daughter crying in the dark gripped his heart. He began to think, "I shouldn't do this to my wife and my daughter. I better stop this mess. How can I hurt my loved ones?" Once he began to think like that, something in him began to change. He drank less and less, and eventually completely stopped drinking. He feared for his life under the intoxication, and he feared for the safety of his family. He even began to attend a church, and from time to time would perform clarinet solos (he was an excellent clarinet player when we were in the band group at the orphanage. I played a baritone instrument).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chulsoo held onto a job for many years until he retired recently. Today he takes care of his grandchildren while their parents work. He said that he is happy. He also realized that having a family puts a whole new perspective in life and a feeling of responsibility that drives a man to take care of his family. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As he shared his story, he looked straight at me and asked, "Steve, am I not successful in life?" I told him with a resounding affirmation,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Chulsoo, you are very successful in life. I'm very proud of you!" I continued.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"You should be very proud of what you went through and how despite all the obstacles thrown in your path you never gave up."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I am very happy and content in seeming my children work hard, and babysitting my grandkids. I have done well."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In talking with him, I was reminded of a hit Korean movie, "Ode to My Father" (국제시장). In the movie the main character goes through all sorts of problems to keep a family together through many years of changes in political, social and economical turmoil in Korea. At the end of the movie, the main character, now a gray haired old man, looks at the old portrait of his father and states, "Father, I have kept our family together, didn't I?...But it was so very difficult...". The main character also states, "I went through all these difficulties in life, and I am thankful that my children and their children don't have to endure what I endured."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I saw the same character in my friend Chulsoo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But then there was this painful question in my mind, "Had Chulsoo been adopted like me, he wouldn't have had to suffer so much." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps God knew that Chulsoo would be strong enough to endure the ordeals he faced and come out as a strong and a noble man. And perhaps God knew better that I might not be strong enough to endure what Chulsoo did, and so he allowed me to be adopted. Many thoughts go through my mind as I reflect upon our meeting last night. And of course many questions remain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But one thing I know for certain. That as for me, my adoption has been a tremendous blessing in my life, and it has provided me with an opportunity that I would have never imagined. And for this reason, I celebrate the existence of the National Adoption Month, and a continued commitment and a resolve to do all I can to speak for the voiceless children and their rights to homes of their own.</span>Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-39519042035301200922015-10-03T11:07:00.001-07:002015-10-03T11:07:42.350-07:00MPAK Gala - Picking Up the Steam<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Just three weeks away from this exciting event that is building up steam, and getting a lots of attention and interest by many who have called wanting to participate in the event. </div>
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A newspaper article came out featuring the story of our event. The next day a gentleman called from South America with a generous amount of donation commitment. A woman called from Maryland after viewing the newspaper wanting to donate. Many people in the LA areas have called, either wanting to attend or donate. </div>
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Today this announcement will come out in both the Korea Times (한국일보) and the Korea Daily (중앙일보), the two biggest newspapers in the Korean-American community.</div>
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For those interested in donation, or purchase tickets for our event, please go to:</div>
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<a href="http://www.bidpal.net/mpakgala">http://www.bidpal.net/mpakgala</a></div>
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<br />Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-87237243051714738562015-09-15T22:34:00.003-07:002015-09-15T22:34:43.717-07:00ADOPTION = OPPORTUNITY<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was contacted by a news media (I won't reveal the name and the associated media agency) with some questions related to pros and cons of intercountry adoption. Below is the response I wrote to the editor who asked for my comments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The intercountry adoption issue is all about where you want to stand on the issue rather than for what it really is.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So you have adoptees on both sides of the argument, both for and against it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And many adoptees are divided with passion and emotion on both sides.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I can't speak for all adoptees, I will let you know how I feel about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am an Aerospace engineer developing and building the GPS III satellites that will serve the peoples' needs all over the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because of my scientific nature and logic, let me start of with this equation:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ADOPTION = OPPORTUNITY</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adoption is an opportunity to have a family, an opportunity to get educated, and opportunity to become somebody.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interestingly, adoption also provides opportunity to speak for or against adoption itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If adoption is not a choice available, then what is the alternative to adoption for a homeless child in Korea?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Korea, children are usually separated by unwed mothers or birth parents that choose to abandon them, either due to them not able to take care of the babies, or due to cultural pressure where out-of-wedlock births are not accepted, or children that are caught between the divorce situation or economic hardship...all play into many adults giving up their children.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the great majority of the children are given up by undwed mothers that do not wish to take care of the children due to unacceptance of their situation by their families and the society as a whole. It is really difficult for an unwed mother to try to raise her child in Korea. The greatest of the difficulties is the social stigma against them, unacceptance by their families and peers, and economic reasons and inability of the young mothers so burdened with such heavy responsibilities at such young age.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For these children, there are four options available: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. To be placed back with their biological parents...this seldom happens</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. To be adopted domestically...this happens, but not enough</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. To be adopted internationally...this is being choked off each year with very few leaving Korea now</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. To be placed in institutions (orpahanges)....this happens to most of the homeless children in Korea</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What happens to the significant majority of children that are placed into the institutions?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The children usually stay in institutions until age 18 and then forced out of orphanage system with very little education and preparation to face the world by themselves.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For these adult orphans, most of them are not well educated or even go to colleges. So they may find jobs that don't pay much and work long hours. Many turn to criminal activities, and many girls become victims of abusive men, and some turn to prostitution to survive. And many wind up giving out-of-wedlock births, repeating the cycles all over again, just like their parents did.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are some exceptions to this. Some orphans are self-motivated and do well in school and able to go out into the society and make something of themselves. Some have become teachers, businessman, social workers, etc. but these are very rare as most of the children are not motivated or guided or taught to study, and the orphanage life does not promote proper learning environment for the orphans.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Believe me, I lived eight years in an orphanage and I know what I'm talking about.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today you hear many adoptees who are well educated and some are endowed with PhDs and teach as professors in some universities, but have chosen to speak against intercountry adoption. I do not think their hearts are evil in any way, but simply naïve with the facts. The fact that had they stayed in Korea, they would not have had the opportunities they enjoy now. Some adoptee activists are living in Korea to campaign against adoption. Some are even against domestic Korean adoption stating that adoption separates children from birth parents when in fact the adoption is in response to already separated children, not the cause of it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of them seem to have the illusion that they might have been better off staying in the country of their birth, culture language, and identity, the things that many adoptees lament as something lost in the process of adoption. But the hard truth is that to grow up in Korea as an orphan the loss is many times worse than the loss of a culture or language. They have lost the opportunity to be somebody in the society as the institutional living has robbed them of their rights.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many think that they might have had the chances to be reunited with their birth parents had they not been uprooted out of a country without their consent and transplanted in the strange places. Again the hard fact is that children being reunited with their birth family is very remote and most of them would have grown up in various institutions with very little hope or opportunity to make something of themselves.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of the orphans are tied down because of the law that requires parental consent to be adopted. One orphanage director who I have known for many years has stated, "The fact that there are the parents of these children existing somewhere in Korea is ruining the lives of these children." She was lamenting the fact that some of her children were admitted to her orphanage as babies, and now they are about to be forced out of the system. These children have waited all their lives for their parents to show up, but the parents have never stayed in touch nor visited them. For these children their lives would have been better off had they been adopted early, even through intercountry adoption. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sure there are risks with intercountry adoption. I remember the news of a child being killed by his adoptive parent in the US two years ago. Some are abused physically and sexually. Some are not loved and neglected by their adoptive parents. But these types of risks should not stop the needs of the children to have opportunities they deserve. While there are some unfortunate placements of the children with bad parents, significant majority of the parents are good parents. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The study has shown that the rate of children being killed by their biological parents is ten times higher than those killed by their adoptive parents. So should we pass a law that forbids parents from having their own children because of the risk? We need to be careful to have a proper and balanced view before we rush quickly into making a judgment against intercountry adoption. That's why a few isolated cases do not represent all the adoption cases.<br />
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Adoption process has some holes as it is not perfect, but we should continue to improve on it, but at the same time don't tie down the hands of so many children from being adopted or their placement period drawn out so long because of some procedural bureaucracy. The current special adoption law is supposed to work for the children, but in fact it is working against such children that need to be placed as young as possible. Due to the law, many are now being placed two or three years of age. The most important period of their development years has already been tarnished with trauma because of the law. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Life itself is a risk. People get killed, there are wars and terrorism, natural disasters and famine, and diseases with all kinds of sickness, and one could consider that life is not worth living with such risks abound. But does that mean that we stop giving births to our children and give up the hope in living because of the risks? Definitely not. Likewise, should a few bad cases of adoption stories kill the hope for thousands of many children that deserve families and opportunities to become who they can be? Having opportunity means having risk. But for a child in an institution, there is no opportunity for the child, but the presence of even a greater risks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know I have rambled on a lot. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I hope you will understand what I am trying to say.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All I am saying is that ADOPTION = OPPORTUNITY.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let this opportunity not be taken away from the children.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Opportunity to succeed or fail through adoption is better than having none at all.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steve Morrison</span> Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-37022447549778076342015-09-15T12:40:00.002-07:002015-09-15T12:40:28.095-07:00Helen Morrison's View of Intercountry Adoption<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The following blog is by my daughter Helen, who has written a blog as a part of her school assignment to write on an issue, and she has chosen the issue of intercountry adoption. Helen is not an adoptee and currently is a freshman at Biola. I really appreciate her insight into her exposure and experience in the issues related to intercountry adoption.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> For as long as I can remember, my father was always saying, “Every child was created to be loved.” But, how can they be loved if they have no home and no family? I have a lot of experience with the idea of adoption because I was raised in a home where adoption was highly promoted. Of course, my knowledge is miniscule compared to my father’s knowledge of what is going on, simply because as an adoptee himself, he set out to advocate international adoption in Korea. Therefore, he has done extensive research and thinking to better understand the situation.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Adoption in Korea is a taboo, of course--if you are reading this blog, it is most likely that you know that already. In Korea, adoption is often done in secret and families that go public with their adoption are often looked down upon. The stigma of adoption in Korea has even affected the mindset of some of my friends, who come from a Korean background. I remember the first time I experienced this was when I was having a conversation I had with one of my friends wherein she asked me why my brother and I were the same age but, weren’t twins. I told her that he was adopted and then she asked, in surprise, “Oh, and are you just okay with just sharing that information?” Surprised and confused by that response I replied, “Yes.” In an obvious tone. Then she went on and called my parents brave for not being ashamed of adoption. That was not the only time I experienced something like this. Throughout the years, I’ve seen traces of the negative social stigma in the people I interact with daily. This leads me to the purpose of writing this blog post.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I believe my dad being orphaned was an immense blessing. It’s a strange assumption, correct? However, if he wasn’t orphaned he would not have had a passion to change Korea’s views on adoption. Because of my dad’s suffering and experiences, he is helping to ensure that nobody goes through the same experience as he has. He is also igniting more hearts to the problem that is still very much relevant today. One of those hearts is mine. I believe that me being my father’s daughter was not coincidental. My father being who he is is also not coincidental. My dad’s vocation is to promote international adoption in Korea, and he has inspired me to take on that lifestyle as well.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">-- Helen Morrison</span></b><br />Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-50285703617081973822015-09-07T14:14:00.000-07:002015-09-07T14:15:22.499-07:00You are invited - MPAK Gala Event to Raise Funds for the Baby Box<h2>
<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="font-size: large;">You are invited! </span></span></i></b></h2>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="color: #0070c0;">MPAK Gala Event to Raise Funds for the Baby Box!”</span></span></span></i></b></h2>
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<b><span lang="KO" style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">초대합니다</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Malgun Gothic', sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: large;">! </span><i><span style="color: #0070c0;"><span style="font-size: large;">“<span lang="KO">베이비박스를 위한 후원 밤</span>”</span></span></i></span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;">Date/Time:</span></b><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 107%;">Thursday, October 22, 2015, 6:00 PM</span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;">Place</span></b><b><span style="line-height: 107%;">:</span></b><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 107%;">Taglyan
Cultural Center, 1201 Vine Street, Los Angeles, CA 90038</span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;">Keynote
Speaker:</span></b><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span><span lang="KO">이종락</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">목사</span> (<span lang="KO">베이비박스</span>), <span style="line-height: 107%;">Pastor Lee
Jong Rak (Baby Box)</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;">Registration/Tickets</span></b><b><span lang="KO">등록</span>/</b><b><span lang="KO">티켓</span><span lang="KO"> </span></b><b><span lang="KO">구입</span><span lang="KO"> </span></b><b><span lang="KO">정보</span>:</b> <span style="line-height: 107%;">$150/person, Register at: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.bidpal.net/mpakgala">http://www.bidpal.net/mpakgala</a></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;">Organized
By</span></b><b><span lang="KO">주최</span>:</b> <span lang="KO">한국입양홍보회</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span style="line-height: 107%;">(MPAK-US)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>6:00 PM - 7:00 PM – Reception and Silent Auction<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>7:00 PM – 9:30 PM -
Dinner, MPAK Children’s Choir, Baby Box Story, Live Auction</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Semi-Formal,
Suite & Tie, Black Tie Optional<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">MPAK </span>(</i><i><span lang="KO">엠펙</span>) </i><i><span lang="KO">후원의</span><span lang="KO"> </span></i><i><span lang="KO">밤은</span><span lang="KO"> </span></i><i><span lang="KO">가정이</span><span lang="KO"> </span></i><i><span lang="KO">필요한</span><span lang="KO"> </span></i><i><span lang="KO">어린이들을</span><span lang="KO"> </span></i><i><span lang="KO">위한</span><span lang="KO"> </span></i><i><span lang="KO">행사입니다</span></i>.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b>MPAK
Gala is all about helping homeless children.</b></span><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">이번<span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">후원의</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">밤은</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">엠펙</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">주최로</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">한국에</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">수많은</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">아기들을</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">구출하는</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">베이비박스를</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">위한</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">후원모금</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">행사이며</span>, <span lang="KO">베이비박스를</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">운영하는</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">주사랑공동체교회의</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">담임목사님이신</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">이종락</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">목사님을</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span style="line-height: 107%;">Keynote Speaker </span><span lang="KO">로</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">모시게</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">되었습니다</span>.
3<span lang="KO">년전</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">실행된</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">입양특례법</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">때문에</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">약</span> 700<span lang="KO">명의</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">어린생명들이</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">키울</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">수</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">없는</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">미혼모들로</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">부터</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">버림을</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">받아</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">베이비박스의</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">보호를</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">받게</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">되었습니다</span>. <span lang="KO">그의</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">스토리를</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span style="line-height: 107%;">Brian Ivie </span><span lang="KO">라는</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">젊은</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">청년이</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">영화로</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">만들어</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">화제가</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">되었습니다</span>. Ivie <span lang="KO">감독님도</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">참석하게</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">됩니다</span>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MPAK is putting together a fundraising event to support the
Baby Box in Korea, and we are honored to have Pastor Lee as our Keynote
Speaker. Due to the enactment of the
special adoption law in Korea approximately 700 babies have been abandoned
through the Baby Box by the unwed mothers who couldn’t take care of them. Pastor Lee’s story has been featured in a
movie, ‘The Drop Box’ by a young producer named Brian Ivie, who will also be in
attendance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please come to the Gala event and meet Pastor Lee personally,
and listen to his story. We ask that many Korean-Americans to attend and show
your love and support.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="KO">이</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">행사를</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">주최하는</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">엠펙은</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">지난</span> 16<span lang="KO">년간</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">한국에</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">가정이</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">필요한</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">아동들이</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">가정에서</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">자라야</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">하는</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">뜻으로</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">입양홍보운동을</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">열심히</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">해왔습니다</span>.
<span lang="KO">공개</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">입양을</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">주장하는</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">엠펙은</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">한국에</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">부정적인</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">입양문화를</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">바로</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">세우기</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">위해</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">노력해왔으며</span>,
<span lang="KO">그</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">결과</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">수많은</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">입양가족들이</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">공개입양을</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">통해</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">입양의</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">소중함과</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">아름다움을</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">한반도에</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">전파하며</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">많은</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">아이들이</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">가정에서</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">행복하게</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">자라게</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">되었습니다</span>.
<span lang="KO">엠펙에서는</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">베이비박스에</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">버려지는</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">모든</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">아기들이</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">좋은</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">가정에서</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">자랄</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">수</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">있기를</span><span lang="KO"> </span><span lang="KO">희망합니다</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MPAK has been promoting adoption in Korea for the past 16
years on behalf of many homeless children. We advocate for transparent adoption
to bring about positive changes to the Korean adoption culture. Since that time, many adoptive families have
joined MPAK to promote the importance and beauty in adoption in Korea, and this
has resulted in many children growing up in loving homes. It is our sincere desire that all the babies
abandoned at the Baby Box will find homes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For more
information, please contact: <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Steve Morrison at 562-505-0695<br />
Email at: </span><a href="mailto:mpakgala@gmail.com"><span style="line-height: 107%;">mpakgala@gmail.com</span></a><span style="line-height: 107%;"><br />
Website: </span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.mpak.com/">www.mpak.com</a></span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For those that are not local or cannot make it to our event, please consider donation at the registration site below, or use this form to send in your donation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;">MPAK
Gala Registration at:</span></b><span style="line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.bidpal.net/mpakgala"><span style="line-height: 107%;">http://www.bidpal.net/mpakgala</span></a></span></span></div>
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Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-48343897812322521062015-06-16T05:15:00.002-07:002015-06-16T05:15:38.497-07:00Translated - She Wanted to Take My Younger Brother. I Asked Her “What About Me?”
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">She
Wanted to Take My Younger Brother. I Asked Her “What About Me?”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">An
Interview with Steve Morrison, Founder of MPAK<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">By Kim Ji Young, Reporter, OhmyNews<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">(Original article link in Korean:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/Tenman/report_last.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002114382"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/Tenman/report_last.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0002114382</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Born in 1956. Nationality, the US. Hometown Mukho (Donghae
City) in Kangwon Province. A graduate of the Purdue University in the US. A
Senior Project Engineer at the Aerospace Corporation. A satellite systems
engineer. Married with a Korean-American woman, has two sons and three
daughters. Of the five children adopted two sons. Separated at five from
biological family. Birth father, dead. Date of death unknown. Birth mother,
rumored to be dead. Younger brother, no news of him. Adoptive father passed
away in 2006 at 84. Adoptive mother is 91, in a nursing home in Colorado
Springs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">A Korean adoptee, Steve Morrison will be turning 60 next
year. His Korean name is Suk-Choon Choi. His life is indescribable with
countless stormy life events. On May 10th at a hotel café in Myeongdong District
in Seoul, I interviewed Steve Morrison, who was visiting his motherland to
attend the National Adoption Day event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">In the year 2000 when he was 44, Morrison was at the
forefront of the very first Gathering of the Korean Domestic Adoptive Family
Conference, which was held in Kwa-Chun Civic Center. The year before, he
founded the Mission to Promote Adoption in Korea (MPAK) which is the first
non-profit organization consisting of adoptive families that have decided to be
transparent on their adoptions (as opposed to keeping it secret).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">An overseas adoptee Morrison is the pioneer in bringing
about a significant change in the Korean adoption culture in Korea as he is the
first to spread the concept of transparent adoption in Korea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is considered as the Godfather of the adoption
movement in Korea, and as a successful adoptee himself, I was curious to know why
Morrison was so committed in his endeavor to bring about positive changes in
the Korean adoption culture while spending much of his personal time and
resources. And I believe his life itself will tell the story. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Separation of a Family of Four<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I arrived early at the café. As I was waiting, Morrison
walked towards me, with a slight limp. I glanced at him. His left knee did not
bend. Then, I realized he was handicapped. After we got our coffee, Morrison
began his story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“I lived in a hut that was made out of hays, overlooking
the East Sea. I remember the trains loaded with coals passing by, and there were
military vessels and fishing boats floating in the ocean. I also remember the
sun rising above the horizon. It was a very peaceful sight to behold.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Morrison was about 4 or 5 years old, not exactly certain
about his memories but that was the picture of his family he remembered – mom,
dad, and a younger brother. However, this peaceful image soon turned into dark.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“I heard my dad’s business failed. I do not remember
clearly but I think we were pretty well off at one time. But, ever since the
failure my dad kept drinking. His face would become red and his eyes were
furious – it was scary to at his face. Then he started beating all three of us,
especially my mom.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Every day my dad drank, and my mom was physically abused.
One day, while he was beating my mom, my dad stopped and had his eyes off for a
second. Then my mom quickly put her shoes on her feet and ran away. Later,
Morrison got to meet his mom at grandmother’s house but never after that. He
clearly recalls the day his mom rushing out of the house, away from the father’s
abuse.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“I wasn’t born as a handicap. One day I was at my
grandmother’s house, my right foot was swollen overnight. Then, I bent my knee
but never could get it straighten out again. The day my mom left the house, I
was taken to the hospital on her back. She was a very compassionate and
kind-hearted woman.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“On our way to the hospital, she asked me, “My dear, if
your father lays his hand on me tonight, will you please tell him to stop?” How
desperate she must have been to ask that to a five years old son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, my dad came home drunk that night
and started to hit her again right before my eyes. Mom did not say a word.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Many minutes have gone by, yelling and beating. My brother
and I woke up at the commotion and we were confused and scared and started
crying. As I watched my mom getting beaten, I finally remembered what she asked
me to do. I took the courage to go up to my dad and asked him to stop. He
looked at me with a look of embarrassment and said “I’m so sorry, my son. I’ll
stop now.” But within a minute or so, he started strike her again.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“My mom could not handle it anymore and tried to escape.
But, soon after dad found her, brought her back in and started beating again. When
he took his eyes off of her for a second, my mom finally succeeded in escaping
him.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Although that moment brought a traumatic loss of his mother
and the last time he would ever see her, Morrison seemed relieved as he described
it as “successful.” He could never live with his mother again, but he was at
peace knowing that this was the only way for her to be safe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">After his mother had left, Morrison and his younger brother
of three years old lived a life of the homeless. Frequently dad would leave
early in the morning and not come home for days without contact. To the
brothers, their father really did not exist. It was 1961, only 8 years after the
Korean War. It was a period of hardship as many Koreans faced starvation
without the aids from the US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How would
the two brothers of five and three to survive? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“During the day, my brother and I would walk around the
streets, always keeping our eyes on the ground. We were looking for coins.
Luckily, we found some almost every day. We would then buy some bread and other
foods. It doesn’t mean that we never starved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact we looked pretty terrible.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The brothers have lived like this for days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day they heard that their father had been
arrested by police and never could reach him after. These young boys had no way
to find him and that was the end. However, the boys did not miss him. To them,
he was like a devil who made their angelic mother run away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The brothers were all alone. Their only way to survive was
to walk around the streets. One day, a lady who sold the steamed crabs on the
street, and who was often kind to the boys by giving them some free steamed
crabs, decided to take the younger brother home to raise him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This lady bought new clothes and shoes and put them on my
brother. I was so envious. As she was taking him away, I asked her “What about
me?” She said she couldn’t take me because of my leg. That was the last time I
saw my little brother, and neither of us would realize that it would the last
time together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was only five… That was
the last time I saw my little brother Dae-Chun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">It took less than a year for the family of four to be disintegrated.
The loss of his angelic mother and his younger brother that he roamed the
streets with, would bring pain and longing for the rest of his life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Deepest
Longing ‘Adoption’<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">As Morrison roamed the streets alone, he was later taken to
an orphanage in Kwangwon Province with the help of a gentleman who found him.
Shortly after, he was taken to the Holt Children’s Center in Nok-Bun Dong with
the hope of surgery on his left leg. Although he was separated from his brother
because of his leg, it was his leg that enabled him to move to a better
facility. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">At the time, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the
world and the children in orphanages hardly had chance to be domestically
adopted. Common households were struggling to have three meals a day - that
would be considered luxury. Nobody in Korea could even possibly imagine or hope
for adoption. The only hope for the orphans was to be adopted abroad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">He was happy at the Holt Children’s Center. He no longer
had to look for food on streets, and always had new clothes and shoes to wear.
He would get along well with his friends playing with marbles cards, and
enjoying soldier plays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was well
taken care of by the loving hands of Mr. and Mrs. Holt. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Morrison also got a surgery on his leg where before he had
to press down on the bent knee with his left hand to support his weight.
However, this time the problem was the other way around – his straightened knee
now would not bend. He couldn’t avoid walking crippled, but he didn’t have to
support the knee with his hand. He was thankful and content with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">He went to school and had a reasonably good grades.
However, there was a deep longing in his heart in spite of his happy life at
Holt. He missed his mother and his brother. Although he was five years old at
the time of separation, he knew the love he has received from his mother and
the dedication that she showed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day
while he was looking out from the fence to a neighboring village, he saw a kid
going to a picnic holding hands with parents, with a huge smile on his face. With
a feeling of a lump in his throat, he remembered how he longed for a family of
his own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Like the other orphans that were being adopted to the US,
he also wanted to be adopted by a family in the US to be loved. Time flew by as
he graduated from an elementary school and entered into 7th grade. In the
meanwhile, many of his friends were adopted abroad, but many others were left
in the center. He remembers wondering, “Why am I not being adopted?” To be
adopted was his biggest hope and dream.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">He was in his 7<sup>th </sup>grade year in the middle school.
At that time the law did not allow overseas adoption once a child passes the
age 14.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That means that after February
27, 1970, Morrison had to give up his hope of being adopted and stay in the
orphanage only until certain age, having to be on his own after that. Adoption
was the only way of escape for him to go out into the world and have a shot at
being successful, and also put him in the path of his family he always dreamed
about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Although his life at the orphanage was so much better than the
life of living in the streets before, yet he yearned to have his own parents, and
to have a chance to get educated in a good environment, and to become
successful in life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Towards the end of 1969, Morrison’s picture was along with
30-40 other orphans that were featured as the ‘children in need of homes’ section
in Holt’s bi-monthly magazine. There was a note under his picture describing that
there was not much time left to for him to get adopted as he was nearing the
age 14.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually, 11 American families
reached out wanting to adopt him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">On May 28, 1970, Morrison got on a plane to America with a
Bible and his diary in a bag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was
fourteen when he arrived.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“My parents had two older sisters and a son the same age as
me. There was also a 12 years old Amerasian brother that was adopted two years
earlier. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got along so well. We often
played board games in the living room. My father was a biological scientist
working under the government and my mother was a stay home mother. We were not
rich but in the middle class.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“My father was a modest, graceful, and a humble man. So was
my mother. I felt loved by my parents and the five siblings got along very
well. The way my father treated my mother was such gentleman-like. It was an
awkward sight when I first saw them kiss every day, but as time went by I
realized how beautiful it was. It made me think of my relationship with my
biological parents back in Korea. It was complete opposite. It was then I
witnessed the true image of being a good father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘This is how a husband is supposed to treat his
wife. This is how you love your children.’ I dreamed that one day I would
become such a wonderful father myself.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<strong><span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">“I
Could Not Believe...the Transformation in My Life”</span></strong><span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">He was a good student. Math
was his strength in school. He also enjoyed studying Physics and Chemistry. It was
shortly after when Neil Armstrong took the first step on the moon in human
history on July 20, 1969. In the middle school, he remembered reading all about
Neil Armstrong in a youth magazine in Korea, and being fascinated by the space
technology, and he aspired and dreamed about going into space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">When he was about to graduate
from high school, he received numerous acceptance letters from colleges.
Without hesitation, he chose to attend Purdue University where Neil Armstrong
majored in the Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering.<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><br />
<br />
</span>“I studied so hard during those 4 years. My parents were so proud of me.
To see them being proud of me was very special to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right
before graduating in 1979, I got several job offers from big aerospace
companies. I just needed to take the final graduation exam and that’s it – I’ll
be going out into the real world.”<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">“I studied late into the
nights as I was studying to pass the final examination to graduate from the
college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day I got a call from my mother
saying that my father had a heart attack and he’s not doing so well. I was shocked
and so heartbroken…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I so wanted to just drop
everything and run to the hospital to be beside him, but I could not give up
the last exam. Every day, I called my mom to check on dad and went back to
study, and call again and study again. Thankfully, the surgery went well and my
dad was recovering. Right after I passed my exam and got my diploma, I took a
plane to go see my father.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">“As I went into the room, my
dad still had several tubes into his nose and arms, and he looked very weak and
pale, but conscious when I saw him. I went up to him and held his hands and
handed him my diploma. Lying down with no strength, he opened it and read it
out slowly word by word from beginning to the end. I was watching him from his
side, and as he ready my diploma I was deeply moved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was so touched… As weak as he was and as
pale as he was, he was my hero and my role model. Despite him being weak, I
remember being so proud of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll
never forget that moment.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">“Then I got to think about my
early life as an orphan merely nine years earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An orphan who was separated from his family,
a boy who could not even afford a bowl of rice, is now scouted by several high
tech aerospace industries with good salary and benefits, and a company that
would give me a chance at a graduate school on a fellowship program with more
opportunities…how could this be possible?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">“I then thought of my
childhood days of living on the streets of Kang-Won province. I was very proud
and at the same time very grateful. I was moved when I remembered the sweats on
the forehead of Harry Holt as he worked so tirelessly for us at the orphanage.
I cannot even describe in words the love of my American parents. I couldn’t
believe it. I remember asking in amazement how this could all this be
possible?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">While he realized that his
adoption has provided a life of abundance, his heart ached whenever he
remembered his friends that remained in the orphanage and would never realize
their full potential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially for
those few whom he considered smarter than him and those that were handicapped.
He was very sorry that they didn’t get adopted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In America, he knew that disability would not be a hindrance to him. But
sadly it is a big hindrance in Korea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Just before he graduated he
made a promise to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That he would
donate a portion of his earnings to the Holt International.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he kept that promise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the seed that gave a ray of hope to
move the Korean adoption culture from a dark history shrouded in secrecy to
being a culture of transparency and dignity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<strong><span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Finding
Korea Again After 13 Years</span></strong><span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">As he made his monthly
donations to Holt, Morrison was invited to a regional Holt office opening in LA.
There he met Grandma Holt for the first time after leaving Holt Il-San
Children’s Center. He was invited to go on a Motherland Tour to Korea with
other adult adoptees, and after 13 years of leaving Korea, the orphan boy
returned as a man in 1983. In that same year, he was also selected to serve on
the Board of Director at Holt. He was 27 then.<b><span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">Five years later in 1988, the
Olympic was held in Korea. It was the opportunity for Korea to shine to the
world and the world’s attention converged to Korea. As the beauty of Korea was
being shown to the world, there was a segment in the news that Korea still
sends children abroad as an ‘orphan exporting nation’, and this infuriated many
people in Korea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right after this there
was a flood of criticism against intercountry adoption and calls for the
complete stop to this ‘national shame’.<span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">“I could not understand their
anger. It didn’t make sense to me that children are being sent overseas only because
the Korean nationals don’t adopt them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And how can they criticize foreigners for wanting to adopt the children
that they didn’t want?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they have
adopted and have done their parts to solve the problem, then they can say such
things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were some of the questions
I remember asking myself. Even now they don’t adopt.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">“Why don’t Koreans adopt? How
can I change the culture of adoption in Korea? After much deliberation, I came
to a conclusion that transparent adoption was the solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the secrecy in adoption that held
Korea down for generations with no improvement in the adoption culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As long as adoption was viwed as shameful,
embarrassing, and fearful, the culture of adoption in Korea would never change
for good. The only way to reduce the number of intercountry adoption was to increase
the domestic adoption.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">In 1999 he founded the
Mission to Promote Adoption in Korea (MPAK) in America, then in late 1999 he
took the movement to Korea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MPAK was
established in Korea, and the beginning of the movement to bring about positive
changes to the Korean adoption culture through transparency in adoption took a
root in Korea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Fall of 2000, he
held the first ever conference to promote domestic adoption in Korea at the
Kwachon City Civic Center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #4b4b4b;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">In 2006, the first National
Adoption Day (May 11) event was held in COEX building in Samsung-dong in Korea.
In 2007, the number of domestic adoptions has exceeded the number of
international adoptions for the first time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">For15 years after founding
MPAK, Morrison takes his personal vacation from his work in order to visit
Korea at least a couple times a year. This year he visited Korea on May 7<sup>th</sup>
with packed itinerary schedule that consisted of attending several events and meeting
with some important individuals regarding adoption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He returned back to America on the18<sup>t h</sup>
of the same month.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum;">He will visit Korea once more
sometime this year. While it is true that the Korean adoption culture has
improved significantly over the past 15 years, the ratio of secret adoption to
transparent adoption is about half and half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And this is a reason enough to continue to drive him to visit Korea. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-68538580828022383692015-05-15T15:46:00.002-07:002015-05-15T15:46:11.525-07:00Family Court Update - From KoreaI have been in Korea for a week now, and each day has been filled with events and meetings. Right now I'm down at the Kimcheon City (about three hours south of Seoul) at the Emmanuel Orphanage for the orphanage sponsored National Adoption Day event, which began last night and continues on today (Saturday) at the orphanage.<br />
<br />
This trip has allowed me to visit all three agencies, and again I am impressed with their dedication to serve the homeless children, even through this unfavorable climate of dwindling adoption.<br />
<br />
I have also met a few visiting adoptive families from the US that have court appearances. To them their dates in the court was a culmination of long awaited home stretch to the conclusion of adoption. I was so impressed with the love and care that the parents have displayed.<br />
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In visiting with all three agencies, each agencies had different court schedules with two different judges. The most often raised questions I have received from many adoptive parents waiting for the court date was why the new judge is not processing the cases fast enough, and the uncertainty of indefinite wait has tormented many waiting parents.<br />
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I have found out that the new judge has already held a court date (a few days ago) for the cases submitted to the court in January, and for those submitted in February she has the court dates scheduled in June. The agencies thought the delays may have been due to her time period of trying to learn the new adoption process that she was not familiar with. <br />
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At the same time, the judge that used to take long to process (at one time up to six months) has cut down his process down to three months. So in essence the slow judge has now become a fast judge.<br />
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When I first posted the blog that these two judges will be more dedicated to the adoption process, it turns out that they still handle other civil matters, except they devote more time on the adoption cases. However they are not solely dedicated to the adoption cases, which would have been nice.<br />
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I am hoping that the new judge (a woman) will learn the ropes soon and speed up her process from four months down to a shorter time.<br />
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I have also made a recommendation to the agencies to get all the entities (agencies, the ministry, the family court) involved in a conference to search for ways to shorten the prolonged adoption process that has not been good for the children and the waiting families, as the children go home as older children. This has been very hard for the children and the families. The more I see the challenges faced by the children and the parents, the more I am convinced that the children need to be home as soon as possible.<br />
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Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8283674149915853764.post-49578495079586168972015-04-25T15:36:00.001-07:002015-04-25T15:36:45.136-07:00Family Court Situation in Korea<br />
I last posted on the development in the Family Court in Korea on February 24, 2015 (see the posting <a href="http://mpakusa.blogspot.com/2015/02/some-changes-happening-in-family-court.html">http://mpakusa.blogspot.com/2015/02/some-changes-happening-in-family-court.html</a>) . This is a follow up status as many have contacted me with the questions related to the Family Court.<br />
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Since the judging staff was reduced from four to two, there has been no noticeable delays experienced. This is based on the feedbacks I have received from two different agencies. <br />
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What's interesting (and relieved to hear) is that one judge in question has picked up some speed. For instance, once an adoption case is filed with the court, this judge used to take as long as six months before a court date is set. Now I am hearing that it's taking him two to three months (based on the information that the February submissions to the court have all been assigned with the court dates, and many of the families have already traveled and come back).<br />
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So despite the reduction in the staff of judges to two, they are able to concentrate more on the adoption cases, and no noticeable delays have been occurring. And this is a good news for all the waiting parents.<br />
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I will continue to update with the latest happenings. <br />
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<br />Steve Morrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485811260567035056noreply@blogger.com0