Korean adoptees create shows about their experiences, TwinCities.com, 05/24/2012 12:01:00 AM CDT.
Adopted French minister sparks Korean soul searching, asiaone.com, Saturday, May 19, 2012.
[Editorial] Heed France’s integration success, The Hankyoreh, Posted on : May.19,2012 09:33 KST
Adoptee rallies support for single mothers, koreatimes.com, 05-01-2012 17:48.
The economist, May 19th 2012 | SEOUL | from the print edition
SOUTH KOREANS take romance seriously. Lovers are expected to swap sweet nothings many times a day and woe betide the clod who forgets a “100-day anniversary”. Some pairs dress in “couple style”, in the same garish red sweater and blue jeans combo, for instance. Small wonder that a Korean firm has created a social network for couples.
VCNC’s app is called “Between”. It creates a private space for two people, in which they can share photographs and special memories, chat in real time and exchange any number of cute “emoticons”: smiley faces, winks, hearts and so on. Though revolting to singles, Between is a hit. Since its launch in November, more than 560,000 Koreans have fallen for it. This comes despite VCNC spending virtually nothing on marketing. Park Jae-uk, the firm’s boss, claims another 200,000 users abroad, divided between China, Japan and North America.
VCNC is betting that couples particularly value their privacy. A message on one’s Facebook “Wall” from an old flame can incinerate a new relationship. Cutting the ex (and everyone else) out removes the risk. Cynics may ask how a social network for two differs from simply sending text messages back and forth. Between’s users presumably think the cynics lack romance in their souls.
Revenue will come from advertising. The firm hopes that nice restaurants and sellers of romantic holidays will pay to pitch to loved-up couples. It also plans to offer premium services, such as the printing of photobooks documenting the progress of a relationship.
Swingers may be miffed to learn that Between allows only one partner per user. But some cheaters have beaten the system by using multiple identities, laughs Mr Park. He is unlikely to join them. Running VCNC keeps him too busy even for one girlfriend, he laments.
Haven’t had much time to post lately.. . but here’s what has been making the rounds among the Korean adoptee community. . .
International adoptions drop globally as experts cite fraud crackdowns and policy shifts, StarTribune, Updated: May 13, 2012 – 12:39 AM
South Korea’s Adoption Day & the Transnational Network of Families, 8asians.com, FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2012
With her child’s birth, an adoptee discovers a priceless bond, Los Angeles Times, May 10, 2012, 7:11 p.m.
A Day For Forgotten Moms of Korean Adoptees, Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2012, 5:46 PM KST
‘Kimchi Chronicles’ chef Marja Vongerichten is still searching for her father, Las Vegas Sun, Wednesday, May 16, 2012 | 6:30 a.m.
I was actually in Korea when this day happened.
| A fundamental solution to adoption problems The Korea Herald Korea was very poor when the Korean War ended in 1953. It was the second poorest country in the world at that time. So, the government carried out overseas adoption for orphans and children dying of starvation as a national policy with the intention of … See all stories on this topic » |
| In South Korea, activists try to support single mothers Public Radio International PRI Jane Jeong Trenka is a Korean adoptee who advocates for single mothers. (Photo by Jason Strother.) While Americans were celebrating their mothers and grandmothers and other important women this weekend, South Koreans were celebrating singe mothers. See all stories on this topic » |
| South Koreans dedicate a day to single moms | Asia | DW.DE | 10.05 … The origins of international adoption from South Korea are found in the devastation the nation suffered following the Korean War. Children left behind by foreign … www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15940000,00.html |
2012-04-03 20:14
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| Danish multi-artist Metta Carter |
Singer’s search to find family takes her through emotional journey around the world
Three months ago, Metta Carter knew next to nothing about her Korean heritage.
All she had was her memory of an old black and white picture of a woman in hanbok that she lost when she was 23 years old. It was her mother.
“And she was sitting in one of these hanbok, with her hair tall, like this, really tall,” she said, her eyes twinkling as she motioned with her hands. “It was so beautiful. A very special picture.” Continue reading
JEMMA IRVING (LEFT), 26, AND NGITA BOWERS, 38, WERE ADOPTED BY AUSTRALIAN FAMILIES. NATIONAL FEATURES
BOTH these women were adopted from overseas. One has always felt at home in Australia, but the other struggles to fit in.
Jemma Irving describes herself as an “ocker” Aussie. Raised on a property north of Tamworth, NSW, she loves beaches, Vegemite and the Wallabies. Yet every time she goes out, she braces herself for reactions that range from rude to downright scary.
While out with her dad, she’s been mistaken for his mail-order bride. In pubs, she’s regularly subjected to people presuming she doesn’t speak English or saying loudly, “Welcome to Australia.” She’s even been pushed to the ground in a shopping centre, by a person who yelled, “Get the f**k out of Australia.” Continue reading
By Dan Rather | Yahoo! News – Tue, Mar 27, 2012
From Australia to Spain, Ireland to America, and as recent as 1987, young mothers say they were “coerced”, “manipulated”, and “duped” into handing over their babies for adoption. These women say sometimes their parents forged consent documents, but more often they say these forced adoptions were coordinated by the people their families trusted most…priests, nuns, social workers, nurses or doctors. Continue reading
Nguyen Thi Nguyet at the house she and her husband had built in Quang Yen, much of it financed with money from a daughter and a son-in-law in South Korea. Her husband, Bui Van Vui, got to live there for only three months before he died of cancer.
QUANG YEN, Vietnam — In the end, Bui Van Vui lived only three months in the new house that two of his daughters, married to men in South Korea, had helped him build here. Dying of throat cancer, he had exhorted the anxious contractor to hurry, scribbling on scraps of paper after he could no longer speak.
Another Korea Wave: New Books in U.S., The Wall Street Journal, February 23, 2012, 3:25 PM KST
Asian Culture Day: Panelists describe Asian-American Culture, the Newtonite.com, POSTED ON FEBRUARY 16, 2012
Adopted–From Korea to Minnesota and Back, New America Media, Posted: Feb 09, 2012
Gathering promotes Korean heritage, DemocratandChronicle.com, 12:17 AM, Jan. 29, 2012
And I just thought this one was really interesting:
Five Years Later, a New Reality, The New York Times, January 27, 2012, 10:00 PM
Identical twins adopted from China by two different Ontario families grow up 400 km apart, Toronto Star, Published On Sat Mar 03 2012
