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Indian Catholic
January 12, 2008
Church-run shelter supports families led by single mothers
INCHEON, Korea (UCAN): A "family" is traditionally seen as comprising a father, a mother and a child or children. Um Youn-mi, however, asserts that she and her 22-month-old daughter constitute a "good, happy family."
Um, 26, and her baby stay in a Church-run shelter for single mothers in Incheon, 30 kilometers west of Seoul.
Speaking to UCA News on Dec. 29, Um recalled: "The baby's father drinks, and used to beat me almost every day in front of my baby. I stuck on with him because I was more worried about my baby's future." Finally, however, she ended the relationship, and in August last year she came to Stella Group Home.
"Even though society is not willing to accept us as a normal family, I don't feel ashamed to live outside married life with my baby," Um said.

Joongang Daily
January 09,2008
Single moms challenge past ways
'The family structure as we know it may cease to exist in the future, and there would be nothing but unethical chaos.’ Park Jeong-nam Korean Clan Leaders Federation
(photo)
Single mothers can seek advice and support from Holt’s Children’s Services welfare facility as Korea’s conventional family changes. [JoongAng Ilbo]
The new year is just a week old, and the country is already bracing for turbulence.

The Korea Herald
2008.1.11
'I want to be recognized by my country'
As a Korean adoptee brought up in Belgium, Denis Sung-ho Janssens doesnt remember anything about the country where he was born. Adopted by a Belgian couple in 1975, he was only nine months old when he left Korea, and never had the chance to try kimchi until he came back to the country two years ago.
But during his first recital in Korea, he felt something different than he used did back in Europe. The feeling of comfort, he said. And he didnt know where it came from.
It was very strange. I got lots of inspiration in Korea. Everything is new here, (but I am) passionate and comfortable when playing in front of a Korean audience. I dont know why, said Janssens who prefers to use his stage name Denis Sung-ho, a mix of his given names in Korean and French. (His Korean name is Shin Sung-ho.)
Growing up in a small village called Huy, Denis Sung-ho was the only Asian there.

Star Tribune
2007.12.30
Emily Saunders finds the missing piece of her puzzle
ALLIE SHAH, Star Tribune
For five minutes, Emily Saunders was alone.
Then her twin sister was born.
Their mother, a poor South Korean woman who was not expecting twins and gave birth out of wedlock, made a fateful decision. She would give one girl up. That was Emily, who was adopted when she was 4 months old by Jackie and Eric Saunders of Wyoming, Minn.

[LETTER TO THE EDITOR] Overseas Adoption

Once again, the issue of Korean adoption has gained attention in headlines across the world. This time, it is at the unfortunate expenses of an eight-year-old Korean-born girl adopted at the age of four months by a Dutch diplomat and his wife while they were posted in Seoul in 2000, and a one-year-old girl adopted in the American state of Indiana.
While international media has focused on the dubious circumstances surrounding the Poeterays decision to put Jade into the custody of Child Protection Services in Hong Kong, where they are currently stationed, the issue that ultimately needs addressing, is the state of international adoption out of Korea today.
And, in the case of one-year-old Chung Hei-min or Chaeli, adopted from Korea into the Kyrie family earlier this year, it is alleged that her adoptive mother, Rebecca, shook her to death in what is commonly known as shaken baby syndrome.
What these incidents bring up is not necessarily the plight of one particular family or even the future of one particular child. What questions come to mind are these: Why is South Korea still allowing its children to be adopted abroad? And why is this unnecessary, outdated practice still so widely accepted as a viable option? It is not the responsibility of the Dutch government to rectify this matter, or discipline its envoy. Nor is it necessarily the responsibility of Bethany Christian Services to know who may or may not be a suitable adoptive parent.