USA: WASHINGTON: KOREAN ADOPTEES GATHERING (2)

(12 Sep 1999) English/Nat

Hundreds of Korean adoptees gathered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington D-C at sunrise on Sunday.

They came to remember their past, and mark the significance the Korean War played in their lives.

Many are the children of U-S servicemen and Korean women, abandoned during the war.

The adoptees gathered at the Korean War Memorial at sunrise.

More than 400 came from across the United States and Europe to share their stories with one another.

This was the last event of a three day conference.

They came to remember the war and the country where their lives began.

While the statues of tired, pained soldiers stood in the background, two adoptees placed a wreath in front of the memorial.

Event Organiser, Susan Soon-Keum Cox got the idea for the conference while walking through the monument to the war.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"It was the Korean War that was the genesis for so much of what happened in our lives. And especially for those in the oldest group - those born from 1952 to 1959 - it was the war that created us and also created intercountry adoption."
SUPER CAPTION: Susan Soon-Keum Cox, Event Organiser

The conference is aimed at those born before the recent burst in foreign adoptions.

It offers this first generation of adoptees to reach adulthood, the chance to talk with others who've shared their experiences.

They were raised during the 50's and 60's before there were books on adoption, and special culture camps to help kids born in foreign lands connect.

Many found themselves in communities unfamiliar with foreign adoption, and constantly had to explain why they looked different from their families.

Will Dantzler, is a married father of three, a successful owner of an internet software company, and an adoptee.

He was raised by an African American couple in Ohio, where he says he was strange to both African American and white children.

Most of his life he has looked to the future, but he says this weekend has made him think about the importance of his past.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"This gathering has brought it to focus, and in listening to a lot of others, I reflected upon my own past. And, I said to myself, 'Many others, like me, have pretty much gone through the same thing.' And, so we share this camaraderie which is great, and coming to the memorial here, it really brings the focus, the sacrifices of all the people that participated in the Korean War."
SUPER CAPTION: Will Dantzler, Korean Adoptee

Nearly 100-thousand Korean children have been adopted by U-S families since 1955.

The trend began with the war children, born to Korean women and U-S soldiers.

Many of them were abandoned due to the Korean stigmas against out-of-wedlock birth and adoption.

Families in the U-S began adopting the children, thanks to the efforts of Oregon lumberman Harry Holt and his wife Bertha.

When the couple first saw a documentary about the plight of abandoned children in Korea, they knew they had to act.

After successfully petitioning to change the adoption law, the Holts adopted eight children and set up an adoption organisation that exists to this day.

Mee Mee Lahman, a online advertising analyst from New York City, has taken strength from the friendships she has formed with other adoptees.

The rocky start to her life, is an experience she shares with many adoptees.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I came to this country. I was adopted when I was fifteen months old. And, I was abandon, left in Seoul in a box with my name and my birthdate pinned on me."
SUPER CAPTION: Mee Mee Lahman, Korean Adoptee




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