Tag: adoptee

Thomas Park Clement was born in Seoul in the middle of the Korean War. He tells us that the earliest memories he has are of the flashes and noises from explosions outside his crib area, and that the trauma of war would resurface in recurrent fever dreams for years afterward. When he was four and a half years old, his biological mother led him to a street where she instructed him to look down the road in one direction; this would be the final time he saw his biological family. Soon thereafter, a Methodist nurse found and brought him to an orphanage, where he endured constant bullying and belittlement alongside other mixed children. A year later, he was adopted into the Clement family to begin the next chapter of his life in America. Inspired by the cartoon “Clyde Crashcup,” he strived to become an inventor, and today has 77 patents to his name in medical technology, and has donated funds for members of the Korean American Adoptees’ community to receive DNA testing kits for free.

Andrea Hong Marra (she/her), often known as Andy, is a trans activist and executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF). From an early age, she knew who she was as a Korean American and person of color. Adopted into a white family and growing up in a diverse neighborhood, she was raised to be in touch with her Korean heritage. However, there were fewer resources available about being transgender, leading to a journey of helping her parents understand and accept her queer identity.

With a commitment to service and leadership instilled by her parents, Andy began volunteering at LGBTQ organizations in her hometown. She realized that a life of service and advocacy was her calling, a path she’s dedicated herself to for the past couple of decades. Andy reminds us that activists often prioritize their work over themselves, but the spaces they create are for them too. She encourages us to leave behind our stories so that those who come after know they are not alone, asserting that leaving evidence of our existence is a powerful act of defiance.

Emmett Yoon (he/him) is a trans rights activist based in Houston, serving as the Executive Director of the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT). Born in South Korea and adopted by a white family in the Midwest, Emmett often felt out of place and confused as a transracial adoptee. His mother reminded him that both he and the world were more expansive than he realized, instilling in him a strong sense of social responsibility and community through volunteering. As an adult living in San Antonio, Emmett noticed the lack of support and the targeted attacks toward the trans community. This compelled him to take action and start volunteering, eventually leading him to become the Executive Director of TENT in 2017. Faced with the absence of trans infrastructure in Texas and drawing on his unique experiences, Emmett continues to expand trans-focused educational policy, legislation, and community resources. It’s an enormous task, but he remains grounded by the family he has built and his belief in the inherent goodness of humanity. Emmett hopes that by creating inclusive spaces, the trans community can find their own strength to protect their joy and for the greater community to see each other in fullness to work collectively for a better future.

Jacky Lee was born in Incheon, South Korea, in 1957. She recounts her early childhood memories living in Korea with her mother and younger sister, recollecting in vivid detail specific moments spent with family while noting that many of those earliest memories are becoming harder and harder to remember. When Jacky was five years old, she and her younger sister were adopted by an American couple who were stationed in Japan while serving in the Air Force. Though living in Japan presented its own set of challenges—she had to learn a new language, for one—Jacky describes feeling a particular bond with her adoptive mother owing to their skin color, and overall recollects her time in Japan fondly. After the family’s period of service was over, they relocated to California where her parents started a church; it was in America that Jacky felt for the first time a conflict in identity, where she was bullied by the other children at church for her appearance. Resentful that her parents were unwilling to talk about her past in Korea and her biracial heritage, Jacky talks about the confusion and shame that accompanied questions she had for herself. In her thirties, however, while visiting a Korean beauty supply store, a worker recognized her as being Korean; for the first time in her life, she felt able to slowly reclaim bits of her Korean identity. In 2014 she visited Korea with a group of other biracial Koreans, where she rediscovered a love for the land of her birth mother. Jacky went back to Korea in 2017 to nurture this connection, and ever since she’s identified herself as Korean, Black, and proud.

Milton Washington, now residing in Harlem, New York, carries a poignant story of resilience and identity, starting with his early life in South Korea. Born to a Korean mother who worked in South Korean military camptowns, Milton faced rejection not only for being mixed Black and Korean but for being the child of only one parent. The rejection forced the mother and son to move from their village near Incheon to Dongducheon. Years later, Milton was eight years old and found himself living at an adoption agency after his mother could no longer take care of him. One day, a car pulled up, and a Black family from America stepped out to adopt another child. Milton ran into the vehicle belonging to the family and refused to leave. Feeling an instant connection, this family adopted Milton. As an adult, Milton reflects on the geopolitical forces that impacted his mother’s life and other people’s heartbreaking and inspiring stories to persist and live.

David Lee’s journey from a troubled upbringing in LA, marked by his mother’s bipolar disorder and abusive behavior, to finding solace and a new beginning is a testament to resilience and the search for identity. Raised in a devoutly Christian, Korean American household, he faced intensified challenges after his siblings left and his mother was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer, bearing the brunt of her abuse while serving as her caregiver. Recognizing education as his escape, David excelled academically, earning a scholarship to Georgetown University and leaving his difficult past behind. There, he formed a life-changing friendship with Kelly, whose family eventually adopted him, offering the love and stability he didn’t have growing up. This act of adoption not only provided David with a new family but also helped him to start healing from his past traumas. Embracing his complex identity as Korean, LGBT, and adoptee, David’s story is a powerful narrative of overcoming adversity through the support of his chosen family and the strength of the human spirit.

Becky Belcore was born in Seoul and adopted into a Minnesotan family when she was one year old. She lived there until her family moved to the southern states of Virginia and, eventually, Alabama. Growing up in all-white communities was very challenging– Becky even once believed that Korea didn’t exist because she had never seen anybody who looked like her growing up.

Through a passion for activism and organizing she found during college, Becky connected with peers like herself and eventually her Korean heritage through her area’s Korean American Resource and Cultural Center (KRCC). Although it was tough for her to get used to the space, the lens of social justice she discovered at the center encouraged her to stay; the present marks her 26th year of involvement with KRCC and her 6th year as the co-director for the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC).

John Anthony Ranum was born in Pyeongyang, North Korea just as the Korean War was about to rear its head. Separated from his mother amidst the conflict, he wandered down the peninsula to Daegu, where he was placed in a number of orphanages. It was in Daegu that he’d meet his adoptive brother, an American GI stationed at Daegu air base. Adopted into a family in Chicagoland, Anthony himself would end up enlisting in the United States Air Force with hopes that he’d be able to find his mother while on duty in Korea. While stationed at Osan air base, Anthony met his wife, with whom he moved back to the United States to start his own family; today, he takes immense pride in his three daughters and five grandchildren.

Joseph Oh, originally born in Korea, faced a unique journey of adoption and cultural immersion. At the age of 5, he and his biological brother found a loving home in Chicago when a White family adopted them together. Tragically, after his adoptive father’s passing, Joseph was readopted into a Korean American family, that reintroduced him to his Korean heritage, culture, and traditions. Later, Joseph went back to Korea to teach English and explore Korean culture. It was during this time that he met his wife, who was also adopted. Today, Joseph is a father, determined to provide his son with the love and security he himself has come to cherish.

Soon Young Oh, originally from Gimhae, South Korea, was adopted into a Minnesota family. As an adoptee, she grappled with her racial identity throughout her time in school but found connection through cultural centers in Minneapolis. After visiting Korea and meeting her biological father in Korea, she discovered the complexities of her adoption. Now a mother, she’s committed to instilling her Korean American identity in her 10-year-old son and is active in the Korean adoptee community, seeking connection after a childhood marked by isolation.

Born in Korea, Matt Miller was adopted at nine months old and raised in Elgin, Illinois, where a predominantly white environment shaped his perspective. Growing up alongside his biological sister, he found strength in their bond. It wasn’t until his early 20s that he embraced his Korean identity, finding solace and connection through a local church community. Now a parent of three, he has created his own interpretation of Korean tradition, embracing the complexity of identity and family.

Born in Seoul and adopted into a Minnesota family several months old, Bree Yoo-Sun McLeun’s upbringing extended across two worlds. Balancing her Korean American identity while adhering to familial expectations left her feeling alone throughout her childhood. Later, after unexpectedly becoming a single mother during her college years, she found purpose in connecting with her community and healing through motherhood, while raising a multi-racial child.

Barbara Uni Lee Potter was born in the San Francisco area in 1943. She did not know she was adopted until she was 13 years old, and soon after had to navigate a complex history of family and lineage — a secret her family and community had kept from her. Barbara carried this tangled unknown with her until she was 45 years old when she decided to search for her birth mother. Barbara’s story teaches us the similarities and distinct differences of being adopted into a same-race family.

Born in Busan, but raised an adoptee in Iowa, Zach Benson grew up looking and speaking differently from his mainly white peers. Zach struggled with fitting in and participating in class until he discovered a passion for breakdancing in high school. When Zach was 23, he came to Korea to learn more about his heritage and search for his birth mother, with whom he was finally able to reconnect. Zach later moved to Daejeon, where he worked as an RA at a Korean international school, to spend more time with his birth mother.

Christine was raised as an American in a white family— far from where she was originally found, a train station in Daegu, Korea. Despite feeling fortunate for her loving adoptive family, she still felt and looked different, influenced by classmates that bullied her.

Years later, in 2018, Christine saw an online post about a welcome home program. Inspired by the documentary Lion, in which a man found his family on Google, she discovered the Korean American Adoptee Facebook group and was able to travel to Korea for the first time. The feeling of being home removed an unknown tension she had felt in the US.

The following year, she received confirmation from a DNA test that she has a sister living in Belgium. Reunited through the internet, they immediately felt a connection. They met for the first time in Korea, in an emotional reunion that prompted monthly trips to Belgium before COVID. Having reunited with her homeland and family, Christine has found satisfaction and peace in her Korean American identity.

As an anti-racist facilitator and overall creative, Kayla Kim Votapek leads a life of perpetual acceptance of growth and movement towards understanding, but getting there has come with its own challenges. Having grown up in an Italian American family of New Jersey, Kayla found closeness at home, yet felt unseen as an adopted Korean in a mostly White upper class town. To work through questions of identity, Kayla found the freedom to express herself through the arts and performance. This further ignited a passion in her to help others feel seen and heard, to facilitate spaces that nurture communities through action, communication and reparation.

Corey was born in Seoul, South Korea, and adopted with his twin brother to a white American family in Iowa. Though his home city was not small, there were not many Asians or a support system, leaving him to navigate the trauma of separation and the confusion of his Korean identity alone. The pain he felt culminated throughout the years, and he soon found himself in foster care because his parents couldn’t control him.

Matthew Pellegrino was born in Chungcheongnam-do Province, South Korea, and adopted into a white American family in Long Island at four months old. His parents supported him to the best of their abilities but he always knew he was different and faced many instances of discrimination and bullying as a child. It was not until pursuing his masters in music composition at Johns Hopkins University that Matthew truly began exploring Korean culture and what it meant to him.

Professor Scott McLaughlin went to Korea to learn about the culture, his background, and most importantly, to find his biological family. After two years of searching, he concluded that finding them wasn’t meant to be. Since then, he has been residing in Korea for the last 15 years teaching and connecting with people with similar mindsets and backgrounds. In this Legacy Project interview, Professor Scott recognizes that he is still navigating what that means to be Korean. As he continues to explore who he is and the person he wants to become, he hopes that people create special moments for themselves to find a little jeong in their life.

Mila Konomos was born in Seoul, South Korea, and adopted into a white American military family stationed in Japan at six months old. As an infant, Mila would cry and screech nonstop. It wasn’t until her adoptive mother was flipping through tv channels she immediately stopped crying when she heard something familiar, Korean. This story was often humorously shared with Mila but for her, it’s a story about grief and severance.

Amanda Assalone was born in Seoul, South Korea, and adopted into a white family in Tulsa, OK. She always believed she was given up for adoption because her birth mother was young and could not financially raise a child. Amanda never intended to search for her family and always wished them well. So when she received an email saying they’d been found, she quickly learned the truth. Her story had been fabricated and she was given up for adoption because she was not a boy.

Adopted from South Korea to a family in Central Minnesota at just 5 months old, Karl Johnson didn’t always feel a sense of ownership over his Korean heritage, which is exactly what brought him back to Korea in his adulthood. Karl shares his own poem “Baa Baa Yellow Sheep”, which questions what you’re left with when you’re stripped of your original culture, family, country as a transracial adoptee.

Mark Wilson was born in Seoul, South Korea, and adopted to a small suburban town in Philadelphia at nine months old. He grew up in a two-parent household with a brother who is ten years older and was domestically adopted. Upon entering college, Mark was still trying to find where he belonged. At times he would walk by the table of Korean students in the cafeteria but never felt connected with them. Having housemates involved in exchange programs, he ended up meeting the Korean students at a house party and became close friends with them. They invited him to their gatherings and even talked to him about going back to visit Korea.

Sarah Williams was born in South Korea and adopted to the U.S. at nine months old into a Christian household. Growing up, she would always go to church, attend Sunday school, and read the Bible. When she was eight or nine years old, she read the story of Tamar in the Bible and saw her life being reflected right at her. A family member was sexually abusing her. Disclosing the abuse to the family meant it would disrupt the family dynamic – something she couldn’t do because she felt indebted to her family for adopting her. So she remained silent.

Grace Nicodemus was raised outside of Philadelphia, PA, and is currently pursuing a degree in Psychology. For the past 12 years, she has been drawn back to Sejong Camp because of all the relationships she has made. Her experiences as a camper continue to empower her to make a positive impact as a counselor. In this special series, Grace examines her mental health, navigating the world as an adoptee, and her growing passion to help others.

Laura-Ann Jacobs was born in Incheon, South Korea and adopted to a family outside of Atlanta, Georgia at the age of 4 months old. As an adoptee and Korean American, her identity played a significant role in being the foundation for her to pursue a career in education with a specialization in anti-racism. During her doctoral program, she began a birth search to learn more about herself and her roots. In this special series, Laura-Ann shares about her passion in creating change for racial justice and reflects on the significance of her trip to Korea to meet her birth family.

Lia Ylitalo was born in South Korea and is currently living in Minnesota. She doesn’t have any recollection of Korea, but was able to hear a few stories about her birth family. Ever since coming to Sejong Camp, she is continually drawn back with a desire to learn more about Korean culture. In this special series, Lia examines her journey to self-confidence, becoming, proud of her heritage, and navigating the world as an adoptee.

Benjamin Kim Oser was born in Mapogu, Seoul, South Korea, and adopted to Central New Jersey at three months old. In his 20s, he went back to Korea to teach English and find any medical records regarding him or his family. The search soon became a birth search when he discovered his father was looking for him. Benjamin reflects on navigating the complexities and feelings behind his birth family’s story and also the appreciation he has for his adoptive parents and the motivation to lead the next generation of Korean Americans as the director of Sejong Camp.

Kat Ley was born in South Korea and was adopted when she was 7 months old. Before becoming a counselor at Sejong Camp, Kat attended as a camper for much of her childhood. Sejong Camp is simultaneously a place where she can escape the label of being “Korean” and be treated as herself. As a Korean American adoptee, she does not search to find the perfect label or identity for herself. Instead, she believes that her actions in the moment speak for who she is as a person. She has found peace in being able to embrace her Korean Americanness, while also believing that her true identity is defined by how she lives her everyday life.

Cory Lemke was born in Jeonju, South Korea and adopted to the United States when he was six months old. He was raised in a small rural town in Northern Iowa and grew up identifying more with White people. When his family moved to Tucson, Arizona, his racial identity was challenged by the people around him. He encountered much more obvious racism in Arizona compared to Iowa and began to realize the environment around him was not a healthy one.

Madison Jay was born in Korea in 1995 and was adopted to Arizona to a two-parent household with an older brother, who is also a Korean adoptee. Her parents were never shy in exposing her and her brother to Korean culture and read them books about adoption or Korean American identity as well as sending them to Korean heritage camp. As she went through high school and college, people knew her as the adoptee and would question her Koreanness. She didn’t speak the language, eat Korean food, or even know the latest K-Pop band causing her understanding of beauty and self to become unclear.

Greg Norrish was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1986 and was adopted to Northeastern CT when he was about 3 months old. Throughout his childhood, he distinctly remember being perpetually aware of his differences. By the age of 18, he began to process his identity in multiple ways and continued until he was nearing his late twenties, which was when he chose to come to Korea. Greg had no idea of what he was hoping for when he came to Korea. To a certain degree, he wanted to find a purpose while trying to live out the inflated dreams he made throughout his childhood but he was also feeling pressured because he told people back home his decision was to explore his Korean roots. After living in Korea for four years, he stopped worrying about his adoption because he found himself being able to feel comfortable in his own skin and living life through work and meeting people who embraced him as he is. As Greg continues life in Korea, he hopes to continue to process and explore his identity through each moment that comes naturally in his everyday life.

Eric McDaniel was adopted at the age of four to a family in Kansas City, Missouri. On the car ride from the airport, his mom opened up a photo album showing four polaroid photos – one of a car, a big house, his Mom and brother smiling, and his bed. Having vivid memories of being abandoned, it finally clicked with him that he was getting a second chance and this was the family he wanted. Eric learned to adjust and quickly understood that fending for himself and fighting fire with fire was not the only way to live. By the time he entered high school, he had lost his Korean identity and became the catalyst to his own racism.

Kara Bos was born in Korea and adopted by an American couple in Sheridan, Michigan when she was about 3 years old. She had never felt the need to find her birth family until her daughter turned two years old. Her love for her two children and wish for them to know their origins sparked the search for her birth mother and her Korean identity.

Kristin Pak/이영숙 was born in Incheon, South Korea and was adopted to Waterbury, Connecticut when she was about 7 months old. She grew up in a very diverse working class community where race and ethnicity were central to many conversations. Her peers were reflective of the diversity around her and had strong connections to their ethnic identity, many spending summers in their parents’ home country, while she struggled to claim her own Korean American identity. After moving to New York to teach ESL and meeting Korean Americans from different backgrounds, she learned that there are many ways to be Korean American.

Ms. Pak has since moved to Seoul and expresses how Koreans adopted overseas have the right to reclaim their Korean identity and feel part of the Korean nation. As a linguist and educator, she believes that language fluency is not inextricably tied to one’s cultural identity and hopes that perceptions of who is considered Korean will change.

Join us for our third edition of Writers Block with author Nicole Chung! You will be able to listen to Nicole speak more about her book and her personal story.

Kam Redlawsk was born in Daegu, South Korea in 1979 and adopted by an American family in Michigan in 1983. Growing up in an almost entirely white community, she was made to feel like an outsider for her physical differences. It was during college that Ms. Redlawsk was diagnosed with what is known today as GNE myopathy, a rare genetic disease that leads to weakness and wasting in one’s muscles and affects only around one thousand people worldwide. Today, she uses her skills and artistic talent for advocacy and spreading awareness about rare diseases like hers. Dealing with loneliness and watching her disease progress to affect more and more of her physical abilities over time only pushed her to live life to the fullest by seeking out new experiences. In sharing her experiences as a Korean adoptee and someone affected by a physical disability, she hopes to spread the message that everyone has their own reserves of unlimited courage and that empathy can only be built when people begin to seek out each other’s differences.

When our son Bart was only three he voiced emphatic dislike of his handsome Asian face. He wanted to ‘fit in’ to the Caucasian world he’d known since arriving home at age five months. His message was loud and clear, that even at a tender age, his self-esteem was wrapped up with his adoption, Korean heritage and being a “stranger in a strange land”.

Taneka Hye Wol Jennings, born in Cheongju, South Korea, was adopted at 3 months old into a white American family in New Jersey. Growing up, she sometimes felt alone navigating her life as a Korean adoptee and not having a community to identify with. Taneka speaks about her journey to find community and belonging to where she is today, being deeply involved in Asian American and adoptee human rights work. Taneka is currently the Deputy Director at HANA Center in Chicago, IL and is also involved in KAtCH: Korean Adoptees of Chicago.

To pass the time, I have started doing Pilates, taking frequent naps. For three weeks, Tom insisted I watch Pulp Fiction. I’ve eaten close to a thousand Oreos in the past month and a half. This is not hyperbole.

I told myself I was going to be fine – I wasn’t going to let it happen to me. Each morning before sitting in my ergonomic chair, I procure a disinfectant wipe from the plastic container on my desk and begin my ritual with accuracy – wiping the mouse, the keyboard, headset and ear-pad, microphone, regular phone, receiver…chord connecting phone and receiver.

In Part 2, Matt talks about the beauty of starting a new chapter with his family and the joys becoming a father to his own biological sons.

Matt Fischer was born in Korea and adopted at the age of 7.

Chris Detrych came to America in 1985 at 3 months old where he was adopted by a Caucasian family in Detroit, Michigan.

Lynn Richards-Noyer shares how she found her birth family through an appearance on Korean television and how she “accidentally butt-dialed” her birth mother.

Born in Daegu, South Korea and raised in Albany, New York since he was four months old, Alex Myung Wager struggled with his identity as not only a Korean adoptee but also a gay man.

Adopted from Seoul as a baby, Nellie Sung, the only person of color at her schools in Minneapolis, never felt like she fit in.

Adopted at the age of two by a white family on Long Island, social worker Lee-Ann Hanham grew up with her non-biological, adopted Korean sister as the only Koreans in her neighborhood.

Michael Pulliam clearly remembers the time when he was punched squarely in the face right after he boarded the school.

Meg Campbell grew up in Upstate New York with her 3 other adopted sisters, where she felt a strong sense of isolation and loneliness due to the strained relationship with her parents.

“Everything in your life is not your choice.” Marissa Martin opens up about life as a Korean American adoptee.

HeeSun Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1983, and was adopted by a Chinese American family. You may have heard her rap on the Korean TV program Show Me the Money. Growing up as an adoptee, she felt stereotyped by other Koreans, which led her to write about what she was going through in her music. She shares how the experience shaped her journey in finding who she is.

Michael McDonald was adopted to the U.S. at 3 months old.

Andy Marra is a Korean American adoptee and leader in LGBTQI advocacy.

According to his adoption papers, Michael Mullen was left on the steps of a police station in Seoul, Korea.

Jae was adopted at 4 months old from Seoul, South Korea, yet she did not come to terms with her Asian identity until college.

My name is Brian Bomster-Jabs, and I am a Korean Adoptee. I was adopted when I was 5 months old and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. When I arrived, I had a brother waiting for me.

Adoptees are four times more likely to attempt suicide than non-adoptees.

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Adoptees are four times more likely to attempt suicide than non-adoptees.

In a heartfelt and honest conversation on “Not Your Average,” host Julie Young and guest Danny Chung talk about the American dream, the complicated notion of family, and what it means to be a Korean American. He shares, “When you’re a hyphenated American, you tip-toe and you have to tight-rope between that hyphen of Korean and American.”

Probably each one of us said it at some point when we were small children. Some of us said it almost every night. Some begged and pleaded. We laughed and giggled and screamed when our pleadings were granted.

In this month’s KoreanAmericanStory, partnered with KRB 87.7 FM, Pauline Park, a New York City-based LGBT and transgender rights activist, shares how she overcame multiple identity complexes through different stages of life as a transgender Korean American adoptee, and talks about the work she currently does with Queens Pride House and New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy.

In this week’s KoreanAmericanStory with KRB 87.7FM, Julie Young, former litigation attorney and writer for KoreanAmericanStory.org, talks about her life journey as an adoptee.

A month after 9/11, Aiyoung Choi got contacted by KAFSC (Korean American Family Service Center) about a father who wanted to leave his son with someone for the weekend.

In this week’s Korean American Story with KRB 87.7 FM, Joy Lieberthal Rho, adoptee, mother, and social worker, talks about discovering her multi-faceted identity, and how she was able to reunite with her birth mother along the way. Learn about her work with Camp Sejong, an organization where Korean American adoptee and American-born Korean youth learn about Korean culture and identity, as well as the mentoring program she’s involved in with Also-Known-As.

Korean American Story, in partnership with KRB 87.7 FM, invites Katherine Kim Bradke to talk about 325kamra.org, an organization dedicated to reuniting lost families through DNA. Born in Korea in 1957 and adopted to the U.S. at 3 years-old, Katherine talks about her experience growing up and discovering her unique identity as a Korean-American adoptee.

In this week’s Korean American Story with KRB 87.7 FM, Milton Washington talks about the tumultuous years of his life after his adoption to America, and how he came to resolve the inner conflicts regarding his identity.

In this week’s Korean American Story with KRB 87.7 FM, Milton Washington talks about his childhood in Korea as a half-Korean and half-African American boy. With pride, he shares about his prostitute mother – the essence of love and security up until his adoption to America at 8 years old, and the reason why he was able to endure the unfriendliness of a world that gave him birth.

Kathleen Carney Sacco works for the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs. Her work involves inter-country adoption and international child abduction. In her Korean American Story with KRB 87.7 FM, she talks about coming to the U.S. at the age of 5 as a Korean adoptee and rediscovering her birth family as an adult.

One summer my wife and I toured half of the Silk Road through China. We were dating then. It was my first time traveling in a guided group—I had always traveled alone, cut off and trying for immersion, which might have been a way of reliving of my adoption.

Jack McGovern and Noah Sinangil are both adopted Korean Americans that we interviewed at Sejong Camp in New Jersey.

Minjung Kim (24 years old) was born in Seoul, Korea and immigrated to the US when she was 11 years old. Emily Lynch (27 years old) was also born in Seoul, Korea, but she was adopted along with her twin brother by a Caucasian family in Connecticut.

HyaeKyung Jo is a retired teacher with over 30 years of experience in primary and secondary education in US public schools. Linda Priore was the co-founder of Sejong Camp, a Korean culture camp that parents of adopted Korean children started in 1992.

Martha Crawford and her husband adopted two children from Korea.

Sabryna Ro and Leah Rice are both 17 years old and they met at Sejong Camp, a cultural camp for Korean adoptees and American born Koreans

Chris Todd, 31, was born in Seoul, Korea and adopted by a Caucasian family when he was a baby. Steven Yeun, 31, was born in the US, and grew up in Long Island.

This is the story of Thomas Park Clement, an abandoned bi-racial Korean War orphan, who was adopted by a white American family in 1958. He overcame many obstacles to become a successful entrepreneur and a humanitarian.

Joy was adopted from Korea. She came to her family just shy of her sixth birthday.

Somewhere in Korea, deep in the heart of Pyuang Chang Kun of Kangwon Province, a young mother stands alone.

I am reading I Wish for You a Beautiful Life right now, for the first time, suggested to me by another Korean adoptee. It is a book of letters from birth mothers to their babies, letters I wish had come packaged with us.

Our daughter Yunhee is getting married this weekend. With the enthusiastic support of her non-Korean husband-to-be, she’s chosen to have a traditional Korean ceremony tonight, followed by a white-gown-and-tuxedo wedding tomorrow.

Never in a million years did Marja Vongerichten think she would become the unofficial ambassador of Korean food to the United States. Her story is well known at this point. Born to a Korean mother and an African-American serviceman father, at the age of three she was adopted by an African-American couple, Colonel James Allen and Margo McKay.