Song Byeok was selected at 24 to become an official North Korean state propaganda artist. Byeok’s faith in Kim Jong Il was lost when his family died in the North Korean famine of the 1990s.  For crossing to China to find food, Song Byeok was tortured by the regime before finally escaping in 2002.

Song Byeok is making a rare Washington DC appearance during the month of April. There are several opportunities to hear him speak and see him work:

• Public show April 13th-30th at The Dunes Gallery:
  http://www.facebook.com/events/354481851256507/
• Speaking engagements:
  April 6th, 5:30 PM, Busboys and Poets, Hyattsville, MD
  April 12th, 2:00 PM, John Hopkins SAIS, Washington, DC
  April 13th, 4:30 PM, American University, Washington, DC

From the Twin Cities Star Tribune: Adoption agencies’ new hard-to-place worry? Boys.

The drive for daughters, Rochon said, cuts across the agency’s international and domestic programs and is noted regardless of the child’s age; families frequently express interest in a girl “as young as possible.”

Could it be that there simply are fewer adoptable boys in general? Nope. Boys are more commonly eligible for adoption than girls. Said Rochon: “It’s just unexplainable.”

U.S. Department of State figures support her contention. From 1999 to 2011, the department’s Office of Children’s Issues tracked nearly 234,000 adoptions worldwide: 141,000 girls and 83,000 boys, with the rest unspecified.

Rochon wouldn’t be less concerned were the phenomenon reversed. “It troubles us that people who want to have a family limit themselves in ways that result in many children waiting longer for families,” she said.

Read the entire article here.

Korean Focus received the following email from Jessie Findlay of Nick News and passes it on to interested families.

Hi there. I’m looking for kids to participate in an upcoming episode of Nick News with Linda Ellerbee celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Hoping you may know of a few Korean American adoptees who’d be interested?

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee airs 10-12 times per year on Nickelodeon. In 20 years of being on air, we’ve won 9 Emmy awards. Our core viewers are kids ages 11-14 and each show is about a single topic. What we do is to try to explain world events to kids, to send a message that the world is theirs to change, that they have a voice and something to say, and that ignorance is not bliss – which means that most of our shows are serious. And we do not talk down to kids. (You can watch some of our episodes here: http://news.nick.com/ and here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/nick-news-with-linda-ellerbee/id400203724).

In one of the segments of this episode celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage, we’ll be asking kids adopted from Asian countries how they maintain a sense of connection to their birth countries while living in America. Though the episode airs in May, we’ll be filming segments starting later this month, and we decide which kids to film based on phone interviews. I’d love it if my contact info could be forwarded to appropriate families/kids, or if you’d rather chat more about it first, I’m at 212.463.0029 ext. 153. This opportunity is for kids ages 11-14.

Thanks in advance for your help and I look forward to hearing from you!

Best,

Jessie Findlay
Coordinating Producer
Nick News
212463.0029 ext. 153
jessie@nicknews.com

Everyone needs breakfast, and everyone enjoys an opportunity to get together with others in the metro DC Korean adoption community to socialize, meet and reconnect with friends, and discuss current issues, parenting concerns, adoption experiences and more.

This year, KF is scheduling Coffee & Conversation for the third Saturday of each month starting at 11 AM (with time off for August vacations and winter holidays). Mark your calendars now so you can join the conversation.  Waiting parents and adoptees and families new to the area are especially welcome; coffees are a great way to pick up information about Korean Focus and other DC area resources.

A Korean Focus Board member will be at every coffee to make sure we find each other. Adults only please! RSVP info@koreanfocus.org – but if you forgot, please join us anyway.

Day & Time: Third Saturday of the month at 11 AM
Dates and Locations:

• March 24: Shilla Bakery, 2089 Veirs Mill Rd, Rockville, MD
• April 21: Shilla Bakery, 7039 Little River Tpke, Annandale, VA
• May 19: Bon Appetit Bakery, 10155 Baltimore National Pike, Ellicott City, MD
• June 16: Shilla Bakery, 10940 Fairfax Blvd, Suite E-F, Fairfax, VA
• July 21: Shilla Bakery, 2089 Veirs Mill Rd, Rockville, MD 20851
• September 15: Breeze Bakery, 4125 Hummer Rd, Annandale, VA
• October 20: Shilla Bakery, 2089 Veirs Mill Rd, Rockville, MD

 See you there!

March 14, 2012

The petition in support of citizenship for all intercountry adoptees sponsored by Korean Focus in November 2011 (text below) is now on its way to each of the 161 members of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption.  In sending the petition and the names of its supporters to the CCA, KF urges these legislators to take immediate action to stop adoptee deportations (including that of Russell Green, an adoptee from Korea who is facing deportation now), to work to change the laws that lead to them, and to return deported adoptees to the United States. KF will post responses from the CCA here and on the Korean Focus Facebook page as we receive them. Visit the Citizenship page for more citizenship-related resources.

November 7, 2011

Korean Focus is sponsoring a petition to raise awareness and accountability among adoptive parents, adoption organizations and legislators around the issue of intercountry adoptee citizenship.  Beforer and since the passage of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, a number of intercountry adoptees have learned that, contrary to their belief, citizenship was neither granted to them nor obtained on their behalf by their adoptive parents.  These adoptees are at risk of deportation or exile abroad.

Korean Focus’s petition seeks to raise awareness of this issue and give everyone who supports citizenship for all adoptees, including those who did not receive it through the CCA 2000, an opportunity to voice their opinion.  Please sign to show your support, and share the link with your organizations, friends and the media: http://www.change.org/petitions/citizenship-for-all-us-intercountry-adoptees

Text of the petition follows.

Citizenship for All U.S. Intercountry Adoptees

“The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 allows certain foreign-born, biological and adopted children of American citizens to acquire American citizenship automatically. These children did not acquire American citizenship at birth, but they are granted citizenship when they enter the United States as lawful permanent residents (LPRs).” U.S. Department of State

One of the requirements of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (CCA 2000) was that the adoptee be under the age of 18 on its effective date, February 27, 2001. International adoptees 18 and older were not granted citizenship under its provisions. Some, but not all, obtained citizenship through their own efforts or those of their adoptive parents. Of those who did not, many were unaware that they lacked this legal protection.

Being without citizenship while believing they possessed it placed these intercountry adoptees at risk of violating U.S Federal law through no fault of their own by representing themselves as citizens upon return to the United States at any port of entry (including Canada and Mexico), applying for public benefits (including Federal education aid), or voting in Federal or other elections.

Further, strict immigration policies under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 increased the risk of deportation. This law does not provide for “discretionary relief,” which would allow the unique circumstances that led to an adoptee’s lack of citizenship to be taken into consideration in determining outcomes. Adoptees have faced deportation and have been deported to countries in Asia, Latin America and Europe – countries unknown to them in every way: language, culture, family or friends. Additionally, adoptees without citizenship who travel to their countries of birth may be subject to laws there that prevent their return to the United States.

Reliable statistics for adoptee deportation do not exist, but individual cases demonstrate the complexity of the issue and the staggering emotional impact to adoptees and their families, as demonstrated by these examples, which are just a few of the cases that have occurred:

Joao Herbert was adopted from Brazil at the age of eight by a family in Ohio. A charge for attempting to sell marijuana, although a first offense, landed him in immigration detention, after which he was deported to Brazil in 2000. Joao Herbert was murdered in Brazil in May 2004.

Korean adoptee Matthew Scherer learned he lacked citizenship when he applied for a U.S. passport. He subsequently obtained permanent resident status, but upon traveling to Korea was identified by the Korean government by his original Korean name and now is blocked by Korean law from returning to the U.S. and threatened with conscription into the Korean army.

Jennifer Haynes was adopted at eight from India and sexually abused by her adoptive father, after which she passed through 50 foster homes on her way to adulthood.  Married to a U.S. citizen and mother of two young children, Haynes was nonetheless deported to India in 2008.

Adopted as a toddler from Thailand in 1979 by a family in Florida, John Gaul completed a sentence for theft and check fraud in 1996 after the new immigration law went into effect. A judge was prevented under the new law from acknowledging adoption as an extenuating circumstance, and he was deported to Thailand in 1999.

Tatiana Mitrohina was born in Russia in 1978 with physical deformities that led to her adoption at fourteen to California. She suffered from childhood-related PTSD and postpartum depression. Following a charge of abuse of her son, the court recommended counseling and medication, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement have detained her in preparation for deportation.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states in Article 21(c):

“States Parties that recognize and/or permit the system of adoption shall ensure that the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration and they shall:
(c) Ensure that the child concerned by inter-country adoption enjoys safeguards and standards equivalent to those existing in the case of national adoption;”

The legal protection of citizenship in the country to which an adoptee was brought and in which he or she was raised is the most important such safeguard, as it is the only safeguard that provides lifelong legal status. It should be enjoyed by all intercountry adoptees, just as it is enjoyed by adoptees born as U.S. citizens and adopted within the United States.

We the undersigned therefore demand that the United States Congress:

1. Amend the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 to immediately grant U.S. citizenship to all intercountry adoptees not included in its provisions.
2. Following the granting of citizenship, direct appropriate U.S. government agencies to:
a) Assist intercountry adoptees with obtaining proof of citizenship.
b) Provide intercountry adoptees traveling overseas with the permits required to allow their reentry into the United States.
c) Return all deported intercountry adoptees to the United States, regardless of the cause of deportation.

We look to the co-chairs (Senator Mary Landrieu, Senator James M. Inhofe, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Congresswoman Karen Bass) and members of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, who promote adoption in the United States and therefore bear a particular responsibility to ensure that U.S. adoption laws protect their primary constituency, to lead the effort to correct the denial of this important safeguard.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2012/03/137_106204.html

The Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) Northeast Nomads are bringing The People’s Tour to DC on February 29 and March 1.

This spring, in light of the death of Kim Jong-Il, LiNK is focusing on the citizens of North Korea and their experiences. Despite his passing, many people remain ignorant of the suffering and oppression that the citizens of North Korea continue to endure. LiNK’s goal is to bring truth to this issue and move the conversation about North Korea from nukes and war to the human rights and social justice. LiNK’s new film The People’s Crisis tells the story of the average citizen who has had to endure the chaos of this rogue regime. The People’s Crisis highlights the experiences of North Koreans and provides the historical and political contexts to North Korean suffering and oppression.

On February 29 and March 1, LiNK’s Northeast Nomads will be in the DC metropolitan area on The People’s Tour.  Their presentation will include an introduction to the issues, a screening of The People’s Crisis, and Q&A.

Program details follow:

February 29, 2012 – 8 PM
George Washington University
Marvin Centre 311
800 21 St NW
Washington DC 20052

March 1, 2012 – 7:30pm
George Mason University
Johnson Center, Dewberry Hall
4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA, 22030

Both events are free and open to the public – donations to LiNK are welcome.

The unseasonal warm weather we’ve been experiencing this winter has many of us thinking about summer already, including summer camp for the kids and family. Korean Focus has pulled together a list of US Korean culture, language and adoption camps in the Metro DC –Baltimore area and beyond.. Camps come and go, so if you know of others not on the list, leave a comment or contact us with the details.

All information subject to change by the camp organizers. Additional information available at the camp and tour websites. If you stumble onto this following the 2012 camp season, visit our camp page for up-to-date information. Check page soon for Korea homeland tour and study opportunities.

Metro DC – Baltimore

ASIA Summer Camp
Dates: July 26-28, 2012
Location: Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center, Reisterstown, MD
Fees: $300 per adult, child 3 and over or teen
Info: hwakangsong@gmail.com

North Carolina

Camp Moo Gung Hwa
Dates: July 18-21, 2012
Location: Duraleigh Korean Presbyterian Church, Raleigh, NC
Fees: Provided at registration
Info: info@koreanculturecamp.net

New Jersey

Camp Friendship NJ
Dates: July 16 – 20, 2012
Location: Shrine of St. Joseph, 1050 Long Hill Road, Stirling, NJ 07950
Fees: $145 per camper/$260 for 2 campers/$360 for 3 campers
Info: https://campfriendshipnj.org/contactus.asp

Camp Sejong
Dates: August 12-18, 2012
Location: Hardwick, NJ
Fees: $750.00 for first camper/$700.00 per additional camper
Info: lpriore2@optonline.net

New York

Camp Chin-Gu
Dates: July 9th – July 12th, 2012
Location: Church of the Assumption, Fairport NY
Fees: Provided at registration
Info: info@campchingu.org

Camp Mujigae
Dates: Wednesday, June 27, 2012- Saturday, June 30, 2012
Location: Albany, NY
Fees: Provided at registration
Info: campmujigae@hotmail.com

California

Pact Camp
Dates: July 1st through July 5th, 2012
Location: Granlibakken Conference Center, Tahoe City, CA
Fees: Provided at registration
Info: Deanna@pactadopt.org

Korean Education Center in Los Angeles
The Korean Education Center in Los Angeles offers summer Korean cultural programs for youth. Contact kecla3112@gmail.com for information.

Colorado

Heritage Camps for Adoptive Families
Dates: June 14th-17th, 2012
Location: Snow Mountain Ranch, Fraser CO
Fees: $95 – $125 per person in the family, lodging and facility fees extra
Info: info@heritagecamps.org

Indiana

Korean Focus Camp Kajok
Dates: July 28, 2012
Location: Korean Presbyterian Church, 1020 East 101st Street, Indianapolis, IN
Fees: $20 – $20 per child, $7 – 10 per adult, max $60 – $75 per family
Info: http://www.koreanfocusindiana.com/id8.html

Illinois

Hands Around the World
Dates: 2012 dates will be posted soon.
Location: Chicago area, IL
Fees: Available upon registration
Info: handsatw@aol.com.

Iowa

IIA Korean Culture Kamp
Dates: 2012 dates will be posted soon.
Location: Iowa
Fees: Available upon registration
Info: http://iiakampretreat.com/contact-us/

Michigan

Sae Jong Camp
Dates: August 5 – 11, 2012
Location: Roscommon, MI
Fees: $445.00 program, lodging and food; additional fee for bus to camp
Info: http://www.saejongcamp.com/contact/

Korean Culture Camp of Michigan
Dates: 2012 dates will be posted soon.
Location: East Lansing, MI
Fees: Available upon registration
Info: info@koreanculturecamp.org

Families for International Children Heritage Camp
Dates: June 19 – 22, 2012
Location: Knapp Forest Elementary School, 4243 Knapp Valley Drive NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525
Fees: $95 – $115 per camper
Info: heritagecamp@fficgr.org

Minnesota

Korean Culture Camp Minnesota
Dates: July 30 – August 4, 2012
Location: Minnehaha Academy, 3100 West River Parkway, Minneapolis MN 55406
Fees: $175 per camper
Info: KCCregistration@charter.net

Kamp Kimchee
Dates: July 9-13, 2012 (tentative)
Location: Baxter, MN
Fees: Available upon registration
Info: info@kampkimchee.org

Concordia Korean Language Village
Dates: Youth immersion and high school credit camps from July 23 to August 18, 2012
Location: Bemidji, MN
Fees: Youth immersion $1770 and $1810; high school credit $4050
Info: clv@cord.edu

Ohio

Adoptive Families Support Organization Korean Culture Camp
Dates: July 17-21, 2012
Location: St. Leonard Youth Retreat Center, Avon, OH
Fees: $290 first camper, $275 additional campers
Info: http://afsaohio.org/contact-us/

Oklahoma

Dillon International Korea Heritage Camp
Dates: July 26 – 28, 2012
Location: Green Country Event Center, 12000 East 31st Street, Tulsa, OK
Fees: One camper attending $130 per camper; two campers $100 per camper, three or more Campers $90 per camper
Info: whitney@dillonadopt.com

Texas

Destination Korea Camp
Dates: July 26-28, 2012
Location: Semihan Korean Church, 2436 Marsh Lane, Carrollton, TX
Fees: $100 for one camper, $190 for two campers, $270 for three campers, $350 for four campers
Info: Lonna@DestinationKoreaCamp.com or Pam@DestinationKoreaCamp.com

Washington

KIDS: Korean Identity Development Society
Dates: 2012 dates will be posted soon.
Location: Iowa
Fees: Available upon registration
Info: usbosintang@hotmail.com

Wisconsin

Camp Choson
Dates: 2012 dates will be posted soon
Location: Hudson, WI
Fees: Available upon registration
Info: info@campchoson.org

Multiple Locations

Holt International Culture Camps
Dates: From July 15, 2012 to August 10, 2012
Location: Oregon, Iowa, Georgia, California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania
Fees: Provided upon login to register
Info: pamec@holtinternational.org

Korean Focus’s 2012 Board of Directors took office on February 3rd. This year’s Board is our largest and most diverse ever, with representation from the adoptee, adoptive parent and Korean American communities.  The Board was introduced at the KF-KUMCGW Lunar New Year Celebration on February 4th and will be at KF events throughout the year. Contact the Board with your ideas and suggestions for programs and services, or if you’d like to volunteer for a project, event or Board service.  We accept new Members-at-Large at any time during the year.

The 2012 Board Members are:

Congratulations!

The latest issue of the Korean Focus eBulletin is online here. In this issue:

• Announcing the candidates for the 2012 Korean Focus Board of Directors
• February 4th Lunar New Year Celebration details