Cultural Shift on Korean Adoption: News from the KOREA HERALD

In my old blog, I also covered Korea and Korean adoption, a subject near and dear to my heart as I spent a year in Korea interviewing Korean birthmothers for my novel, Somebody's Daughter, which is about the interconnectedness of people-country fomented by international, interracial adoption. So from time to time, expect some news here:


LAWMAKER PUSHES BAN ON OVERSEAS ADOPTION

The Korea Herald, May 9, 2006

As the country's birthrate keeps plunging, an opposition lawmaker came up with a desperate measure: an outright ban on international adoption of Korean children. Rep. Ko Kyung-hwa of the Grand National Party said yesterday she plans to introduce legislation that would prohibit adoption of Korean children by foreign parents outside Korea while systematically supporting domestic adoption.

... To promote domestic adoption, the lawmaker also proposed a state subsidy for the child's foster care during the adoption process, an integrated database for adoption agencies and a reasonable adoption fee, among others.

... Korea has long had a reputation as a "baby exporter," producing a population of 157,000 adopted Koreans over half a century. Although domestic adoption has been growing steadily in recent years, the number is still less than that of overseas adoptions. Of 3,562 children that found homes through adoption last year, about 41 percent, or 1,461 kids, were adopted by Koreans while 59 percent, or 2,101, by foreign parents, which is the third largest number after China and Russia.

Get the full text here: http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/05/10/200605100003.asp