총 40페이지

Review
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▲In1971,JungwasadoptedfromSouthKoreabyaBelgianfamily.Jung’sadoptivefatherisholdingJunginhisarm.
T
hirtyyearsagoin1988,SouthKoreahostedtheSummerOlympics.Globalattentionwasnotonlyplaced
onthefiercecompetitionforthe1988Olympics,butalsoonhumiliatinginternationaladoptionpractices
in South Korea. 1984-1988 were the years that marked the peak of intercountry adoption from South
Korea,with6,500-9,000casesperyear.Thirtyyearslater,theWinterOlympicswereonceagainhostedinSouth
Korea, and there are over 2 million Korean adoptees from other countries. Now they are returning to Korea in
ordertotracetheirKoreanheritage.
Marking the National Adoption Day on May 11, The Argus introduces a French-Belgian animated film
“Approved for Adoption (2012, French: Couleur de Peau: Miel)” and a story of one of those 2 million adopted
Koreans,spreadaroundtheworld,whoarehoney-colored.
country: some children were handicapped; some
“After the Korean War, two hundred thousand
Koreans traditionally prefer boys to girls, though
Koreanorphansweresentabroad.Iwasadoptedin
not as much these days; biological mothers are often
BelgiumonMay11,1971.”
The film starts with whispering in French by a
unmarriedinSouthKoreawhereabortionisrestricted,
grown-upmanwhorecalledhischildhoodwandering
but cannot afford to raise a child; but most often it is
alone on the streets of Seoul. His name is Jung, a
due to the Korean patrilineal culture that stigmatizes
Korean-Belgian adoptee, and it was at the age of five
anddiscriminatesagainstunwedKoreanmothersand
whenapolicemanfoundhimorphanedinthecrowd.It
theirkids.Thislastreasonmadeitextremelydifficult
isnowonderwhathappenedtohimnext.Immediately
to reduce the number of international adoptions.
adopted by a Belgian family in 1971, he was given
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare,
the name Jung Henin instead of his Korean name,
the number of overseas-bound Korean adoptees from
Jun Jung-sik. The new chapter of his life in Belgium
1958to2016is166,512,whichmakesup67.8percent
not only showed him a life of abundance, but also a
ofthetotalnumberofadoptedchildrenoverall.
deeper meaning of self-discovery and ambivalence
overhisentirelife.
“My non-biological brothers and sisters did not
The first wave of international adoption of South
really mention my home country. I have got family
Korean children was triggered by the aftermath of
that treat me like a real family member. But it was
the Korean War (1950-1953). Numerous casualties
not as simple as they thought for me to process
left Korean society with hundreds and thousands of
everything.”
orphans and mixed-race children. Initially, it was the
Raised in Belgium with his five non-biological
outcome of the Korean War that lead these children
siblings, little Jung’s life was rendered mostly in
to be put up for adoption, but there are many other
browns and grays. He often confronted racism in his
reasons why Korean babies had to leave their birth
life, which his siblings have not ever experienced.
33
MAY 2018

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