Since September of 2004, ASK has organized Monthly Forums on adoption-related issues. Past Forums have included guests speaking on Korean foster care, sex education, teenage pregnancy, global trends in intercountry adoption, and media portrayals of adoptees. In addition to learning more about the many issues related to intercountry/transracial adoption, we are committed to fostering relationships with individuals and organizations that are at the forefront of instigating social change in Korean society.

Name   ASK Subject   A day with Professor David Smolin: Friday, July 23 File   49828;47792;47536;48149;49324; 50689;47928;.JPG (1.1 MB) - Download : 1356 A DAY WITH PROFESSOR DAVID SMOLIN Friday, July 23 at multiple locations Event I: Child Trafficking, the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, and the Korean Adoption System Friday, July 23, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Korea Women's Development Institute, 2nd Floor Conference Room You are invited to a free lecture in Seoul by American Prof David Smolin. He will discuss the paper he recently presented at the Hague, and you will also have an opportunity to hear his opinion on the Korean adoption system in light of "child laundering." In addition, the lawyer who wrote the adoption law revisions of TRACK-KoRoot-ASK-Miss Mamma Mia will be there as a discussant, as well as Eli Park Sorensen, an adoptee who teaches at Cambridge University. You may already know that David Smolin and his wife had adopted two girls from India, who they found out later had been literally kidnapped and sold for international adoption. You may read Smolin's works on adoption, including "Child Laundering: How the Intercountry Adoption System Legitimizes and Incentivizes the Practices of Buying, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Stealing Children" here: http://works.bepress.com/david_smolin/ Invitation from KWDI Greetings! For the past couple of years, KWDI has been doing research on welfare system measures for the families of unwed mothers. Closely related to the issue of unwed mothers, KWDI has prepared a forum dealing with the subject of Inter-country adoption. American Professor Dr. Smolin, one of the world’s leading scholars on international adoption scandals, will give a lecture titled “Child Trafficking, the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, and the Korean Adoption System.” We hope that many of you can come and share your valuable insights and opinions. Professor David Smolin currently teaches at and serves as director of The Center of Biotechnology, Law, and Ethics at Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama. Professor Smolin’s papers on “child laundering” – the process of selling abducted or trafficked children for international adoption by creating paperwork that makes the adoptions look ethical and legal on the surface -- are widely known and quoted. PROGRAM 09:30~09:40 Opening Speech by Dr. Mee-jung Lee (Researcher at Korea Women’s Development Institute) 09:40~10:20 Moderator: Jane Jeong Trenka (Author / President of TRACK: Truth and Reconciliation of the Adoptee Community Korea) Presenter: Dr. David Smolin (Professor at Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama, USA) Child Trafficking, the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, and the Korean Adoption System. 10:20~10:50 Discussants Dr. Eli Park Sorensen (Research fellow in the Department of Comparative Literature of Cambridge University, UK) Rami So (Lawyer, Gongam Public Interest Lawyers Group) 10:50~11:30 Final Debate/ Discussion How to get to KWDI: www.kwdi.re.kr Bulgwang Subway Station is in northwest Seoul on Line 3 (orange) where the brown and orange lines meet. The station is five stops north of Gyeongbokgung (the KoRoot stop). It looks like a college campus. Walk up the hill and take a right at the first building and walk up the next hill. Go into the building on your left with the parking lot in the front. By subway: Bulgwang Station (Line No. 3 and 6). Take exit 2 and walk 300m in the direction of Gugi Tunnel. KWDI is on the left. By bus : Bulgwangdong stop. Walk 300m in the direction of Gugi Tunnel. KWDI is on the left. By car: At Bulgwang Station intersection, drive toward Gugi Tunnel for 300m. Make a U-turn in front of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs to enter KWDI. Event II: Talk by Professor David Smolin organized by Overseas Korean Forum Friday, July 23, at 2:00 p.m. at Air Univerity, Dongsung-dong 5-ga Professor David Smolin will speak about his work with members of the Overseas Korean Forum and guests. Location: Go to Hyehwa Station, line No. 4, and walk in the direction of Jongno for about 5 mintues. You will see the main gate of Air University on the left side of the street. The seminar is on the ground floor of the "Historical Building" inside the main gate on the right. www.adopteesolidarity.org DATE: 2010.07.22 - 08:34 LAST UPDATE: 2010.07.22 - 08:42   Aug. 12 7:30-10pm: ASK Forum on Mental Health and Adoption I   Adoption Day weekend with ASK, KoRoot & Track May 8-10 - press release