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The Korea Times
03-24-2008
Miss Mom Symbolizes Dynamic Family Change
By Andrei Lankov
Contributing Writer
In early January the gossip columns of the Korean tabloid press found a new topic. Last December, Ho Su-gyong, a well-known TV celebrity gave birth to a nice healthy girl.
There was one thing special about this event. Ms.Ho is not married, and she conceived her daughter artificially. Merely 15 years ago such a decision would be unthinkable for a respectable woman. Nowadays, it still seems to be unusual, but the public is excited and positive about the news. This is yet another sign of the dramatic change in Korean family life.

The Korea Times
05-04-2008 17:04

Domestic Adoption Exceeds Overseas for 1st Time
By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
The number of orphans adopted last year declined from a year ago, falling for the sixth consecutive year. But a greater number of orphans found a new family here than overseas for the first time.

http://channel.pandora.tv/channel/video.ptv?ch_userid=root1004#prgid=31456074&categid;=all&page;=1
2008.05.05 ASK's Children's Day Event
2008년 어린이날과 해외입양반대
오늘 한강시민공원 망원지구에서 국외입양인연대(ASK)의 설치미술작업이 있었다. 설치미술작업의 주제는 우리 나라가 이제는 해외입양을 극복하고 대안을 모색해야 함을 촉구하는 것이었다. 구체적으로는 가로 세로 5미터 크기의 비행기 모양을 제작하고 그 위에 100원 짜리 동전 2000개, 즉 20만원을 올려 놓는 것이었는데, 지난 55년간 해외로 보내어진 20만 해외입양어린이를 상징하는 것이었다. 입양이 결국은 화폐와 거래로 이루어졌음을 드러내고자 하는 것이었다. 이 설치미술의 작가 나리 베이커씨는 사회복지예산의 증액과 미혼모자의 독립을 돕는 일과 국내입양을 증진시키는 일들을 통해서 해외입양을 중단하기를 촉구한다고 말하고 있다.
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The Hankyoreh
English Edition

A Day Without Adoption
Members of Adoptee Solidarity Korea, an adoptee-led organization based in Seoul, place coins around an airplane displayed at the Han River Park in western Seoul on Children’s Day, May 5.
ASK, which aims to raise awareness to issues related to intercountry adoption and advocate for change in South Korea’s social welfare system, celebrated Children’s Day by calling for A Day Without Adoption, a day on which no children are sent abroad for adoption. Instead, the group advocates for providing single mothers and underprivileged families with the opportunity to stay together.
The campaign featured the construction of an approximately 4-by-4-meter airplane, around the edges of which were placed 2,000 100-won coins symbolizing the exchange of young Korean children for various currencies both tangible and intangible.

The Hankyoreh
“입양없는 세상 왔으면…”
김봉규 기자
» “입양없는 세상 왔으면…”
‘국외입양인연대’와 ‘뿌리의 집’ 회원들이 5일 오전 서울 합정동 한강시민공원에서 ‘입양없는 하루’를 촉구하는 행사를 열어, 비행기 모형 위에 동전 2천개를 쌓는 퍼포먼스를 통해 지금까지 20여만명을 외국에 입양시킨 우리나라의 현실을 고발하고 있다.
김봉규 기자 [email protected]
http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/285909.html

The Hankyoreh
2008.5.06
입양아 떠나보낸 ‘비행기’ 고국 땅에 날립니다
국외입양인연대, 5일 ‘20만명 매매입양’ 비판 퍼포먼스
김정효 기자
» 나경자(35・미국명 제니 툴・사진)씨
“그 비행기가 한국 아이들이 더 이상 돈에 팔려가지 않게 막아주었으면 좋겠어요.”

Now Magazine
www.nowtoronto.com
accessed 2008.4.25
Adoption or abduction?
DO-GOODERS DEFEND THEIR DESIRE TO RESCUE BABIES, BUT CRITICS SAY INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS ONLY REINFORCE THE POWER OF PRIVILEGE
BY SIGCINO MOYO
Take a stroll through any well-heeled neighourhood of any city in North America.

BBC News
Vietnam to end US adoption scheme
Published: 2008/04/28 17:12:45 GMT
The Vietnamese government has said it will end an adoption agreement with the US, amid accusations of corruption.
Vietnam said it would stop accepting adoption applications after 1 July, cutting short a programme that had been up for renewal on 1 September.
A recent report from the US embassy in Hanoi cited cases in which children had allegedly been sold and families pressured to give up their babies.
Vietnam has dismissed the claims, which it described as unfair.

The Boston Globe
Vietnam to halt American adoptions after damning US report
By Chris Brummitt, Associated Press Writer | April 28, 2008
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam --Vietnam, where growing numbers of Americans have turned to adopt a baby, announced Monday it would stop processing new adoption applications from U.S. citizens from July following allegations of baby-selling, corruption and fraud.
The abrupt cutoff cast a cloud of uncertainty over pending adoptions in the Southeast Asian country, which have surged in the face of tightened restrictions in China, Guatemala and elsewhere.
The announcement came days after The Associated Press published details of a U.S. Embassy report that outlined rampant abuses, including hospitals selling infants whose mothers could not pay their bills, brokers scouring villages for babies and a grandmother who gave away her grandchild without telling the child's mother.
"It is tragic for children that the U.S. government has not been able to find ways to work with the Vietnamese government to prevent adoption abuses while at the same time processing legitimate adoptions," said Tom Atwood, president of the Washington-based National Council for Adoption, a research and advocacy organization.

The JoongAng Daily
February babies mark 25th month of rising births
Yonhap
April 29, 2008
The number of babies born in Korea grew for the 25th consecutive month in February amid government efforts to encourage childbirth, a report showed yesterday.
According to the report by the Korea National Statistical Office, newborn infants totaled 39,900 in February, up 400, or 1 percent, from the same period of a year earlier. The figure has been on the rise since February 2006, the office said.
The NSO attributed the climb to a recent increase in newly married people and the government’s continuing moves aimed at encouraging couples to have more babies.