Adopted Territory: Transnational Korean Adoptees and the Politics of Belonging

335 Pages·2010·2.331 MB·English

by  Eleana J. Kim

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adopted
TERRITORY
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adopted
TERRITORY
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Transnational
Korean Adoptees
and the Politics
of Belonging
Eleana J. Kim
Duke University Press
Durham and London 2010
∫ 2010 Duke University Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on
acid-free paper $
Designed by Heather Hensley
Typeset in Warnock Pro by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
appear on the last printed page of this book.
This work was published with a publication subsidy
awarded by The Academy of Korean Studies Grant,
which is funded by the Korean Government
(mest, Basic Research Promotion Fund).
TO MY PARENTS

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Notes on Transliteration, Terminology, and Pseudonyms xiii
Abbreviations xvii
Introduction: Understanding Transnational Korean Adoption 1
part i part ii
1. ‘‘Waifs’’ and ‘‘Orphans’’: 5. Our Adoptee, Our Alien:
The Origins of Korean Adoption 43 Adoptees as Specters of Family and
Foreignness in Global Korea 171
2. Adoptee Kinship 83
6. Made in Korea: Adopted
3. Adoptee Cultural Citizenship
Koreans and Native Koreans in
101
the Motherland 211
4. Public Intimacies and
7. Beyond Good and Evil: The Moral
Private Politics 133
Economies of Children and Their
Best Interests in a Global Age 249
Notes 269
Works Cited 291
Index 311

Acknowledgments
First and foremost I express my greatest gratitude to the many adoptees
who tolerated my presence and questions, welcomed me into their lives,
and contributed their words and experiences to this ethnography. I have
appreciated many of them not only as crucial interlocutors but also as
cherished friends and colleagues. Much of what I have learned about
Korean adoption has been due to the indispensable and foundational re-
search of Tobias Hübinette and from my innumerable conversations with
Kim Park Nelson, whose friendship represents one of the many rewards of
my fieldwork experience. The everyday reflections, opinions, advice, and
ongoing friendships of Me-K Ahn, Jackie Aronson, HyoSung Lee Bidol,
HyoJung Bidol, Sarah Kim-Tomcek, Deann Borshay Liem, Lisa Hanson,
kate hers, Hosu Kim, Hollee McGinnis, Sarah Park, KimSu Theiler, Jane
Jeong Trenka, and Maya Weimer have informed my thinking and encour-
aged me in countless ways.
Susan Soon-Keum Cox early on saw the value in research on the first
generation of adult Korean adoptees, and I deeply appreciate her willing-
ness to let me volunteer for the first Gathering conference in 1999 and her
subsequent generosity with her time and extensive knowledge. When I
first began the Korea portion of my research in 2001, Mihee Nathalie
Lemoine was an expert guide and welcoming friend. Along the way, I was
lucky to meet fellow researchers and adoptees engaged in their own fact-
finding missions, including HyoJung Bidol, Su-Yoon Ko Burrows, Tammy
Chu, Kelli Donigan, Amy Harp, Pam Jost, Eun Yung Fairbanks and JaeSik
Kauffman, Jenny Na, Lene Myong Peterson, Elise Prebin, and Kim Stoker.
At the Overseas Koreans Foundation (okf), Jeannie Hong’s assistance,
cooperation, and friendship were crucial to my research and own sense of
x Acknowledgments
belonging in Korea. I was very lucky to find Kim Do Hyun, a fellow re-
searcher and a dedicated advocate for adoptees, managing KoRoot when I
returned to Korea in 2004, and to coincide with Dae-won Kim’s tenure at
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (goa’l). I hope that some of the wisdom
and insights I gathered from conversations with both Dae-won and Rever-
end Kim have found their way into these pages. Other staff and volunteers
from International Korean Adoptee Services (inkas), okf, and goa’l
who helped educate me on the intricate dynamics of adoption in Korea
include Jung AeRee, Hellen Ko, Ma Kyung Hee, Kim Jong Hyock, and John
Hamrin.
This book first began as a dissertation project in the Anthropology
Department at New York University under the guidance of Faye Ginsburg,
who offered invaluable mentorship and instruction from the beginning of
my graduate school career. Fred Myers, Rayna Rapp, and Lok Siu contrib-
uted their sage advice as committee members at crucial moments in the
fieldwork and writing process. I was also particularly fortunate to have
supportive encouragement and critical feedback from Laurel Kendall and
Toby Volkman both during and after the dissertation phase.
The moral support and intellectual solidarity of friends at New York
University and beyond helped see this project to fruition. Great thanks to
Amahl Bishara, Kristin Dowell, Danny Fisher, Aaron Glass, Sherine
Hamdy, Leo Hsu, Jessica Cattelino, Elise Andaya, Shanti Avirgan, Julie
Chu, Cheryl Furjanic, Bill Horn, JongBum Kwon, Lauren Shweder, Lisa
Stefanoff, Ruti Talmor, Pegi Vail, Daniel Kim, Hijoo Son, Sue-je Gage,
Nicola Kountoupes, June Hwang, and especially Susie Rosenbaum.
This project was funded by a number of institutions, including the
James West Memorial Fund Fellowship for my preliminary research in
Korea in 2001 and the Social Science Research Council’s International
Dissertation Research Fellowship, which funded the American and Korean
segments of my fieldwork during 2003 and 2004. Research in Korea was
supported by the Fulbright Institute of International Education and made
possible by the daily behind-the-scenes assistance provided by then direc-
tor Horace Underwood and the staff at the Fulbright office in Seoul. At
New York University the Institute for the History of the Production of
Knowledge (ihpk) and the Dean’s Dissertation Grant provided essential
funding to support me during the writing process. Thanks to Troy Duster,