Adoption Center (AC) / AC Børnehjælp and Danish International Adoption (DIA) - (Denmark).
Please Note: If you are adopted through this KSS’ Partner Western Adoption Agency (in the time frames during which KSS worked with this Partner Western Adoption Agency) then you should initiate a Birth Family Search through KSS in Seoul. For KSS Adoptees ONLY, please see the “Illustrated Step By Step Guide” on the Step by Step Korea Social Service (KSS) Birth Family Search page.
*Update January 31st, 2024: Please reference the study "Adoption mediation from South Korea to Denmark in the 1970s and 1980s" (Danish: ”Adoptionsformidlingen fra Sydkorea til Danmark i 1970’erne og 1980’erne”) released on January 25th, 2024 (you can download a PDF of the report from the link above), which contains a more accurate history of the relationship between KSS and Danish Adoption Agencies.
KSS adopted to Denmark through Adoption Center (AC) / AC Børnehjælp which eventually became Danish International Adoption (DIA).
Danish International Adoption (DIA) was founded in January 2015 and is a fusion of Adoption Center (AC) / AC Børnehjælp and DanAdopt.
Please note that KSS did NOT adopt through DanAdopt, and KSS STOPPED processing overseas adoptions in 2012.
Apparently Adoption Center (AC) / AC Børnehjælp no longer exists, but you can request your records from Danish International Adoption (DIA).
If you are a Danish KSS Adoptee, we highly recommend starting a Birth Family Search with KSS in Seoul. (Please note that Holt also adopted to Denmark. Please DO NOT file a Birth Family Search through KSS if you were adopted through Holt, as this will only waste time and resources).
Adoption Center (AC) / AC Børnehjælp - (Denmark).
1969 - 2011 or 2012: KSS adopts to Adoption Center (AC) in Denmark in this time period.
Anecdotally, it appears that many Danish and Dutch KSS Adoptees originated from Nam Kwang Orphanage in Busan. Nam Kwang Orphanage in Busan is still a functional orphanage, and you can schedule a file review with the Nam Kwang’s new Director. Find out more about Nam Kwang Orphanage’s contact information here. Please note that KSS Adoptees to Denmark (as with all other Western receiving countries) could have originated from many sources apart from Nam Kwang Orphanage in Busan.
Danish Korean Adoptees are encouraged to join the community on Facebook:
Korea Klubben
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http://kimparknelson.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/SISKAS-2010-Proceedings-Final-Fixed-2.pdf
The annual reports distributed by Adoption Center are revealing examples of the pro-adoption discourse since the foundation of the organization in 1969 until the late 1980s. The annual reports were distributed at the end of the year containing a summary of the adoption agency’s activities during the previous twelve months. The reports provided the reader with some key numbers, and they contained visions of the near future in terms of transnational adoption to Denmark. The report from 1980 begins with the proclamation that it has been “the best year in Adoption Center’s history.” The simple reason is that 1980 saw the highest number of international adoptions to Denmark facilitated by Adoption Center since the foundation of the organization. Four hundred and ten children, to be precise, were placed for adoption in Denmark (in 1980, the total number of international adoptions from Korea was 4,144). Previously, the highest number had been 408 adoptions in 1974. When prospective adoptive families wanted to register with Adoption Center they were placed on a waiting list. The registration fee, as the annual report states, was 3,000.00 Dkr. In addition, there was a so-called “homebringing fee” (hjemtagelsesgebyr), which varied slightly depending on the country of origin. In 1980, this fee amounted to 16,000.00 Dkr. for a child from Korea or India, while the fee was 20,000.00 Dkr. for a child from South America (the exchange rate was 6 Dkr. per US$ in 1980). The report announces that these fees will increase during the following year due to “world-wide inflation, rising costs, etc.”
The following section of the annual report goes into detail with every sending country. The report describes Korea first, mainly because it accounts for the largest number of international adoptions to Denmark. Adoption Center had established a long-standing relationship with Korea Social Service (KSS). The director of KSS, Paik Kun-Chil, and the director of Adoption Center strengthened the relationship between the two institutions through mutual visits. According to the report, KSS is a modern and well-equipped institution with good facilities and properly educated staff. This is due to financial support from abroad, not least from Denmark. KSS does not need any further financial assistance, the report maintains, but instead Adoption Center has helped finance the development of a social institution called Greenhill, located south of Seoul. According to the report, financial support to KSS in 1980 amounted to 972,000.00 Dkr. in total. Of this amount, 432,000.00 Dkr. were used for the maintenance of a hospital, and 540,000.00 Dkr. went to the development of the social institution Greenhill. Both horrifying and fascinating, the annual reports from Adoption Center provide invaluable insights into the discourse of pro-adoption while simultaneously revealing the hard economic interests and transactions involved in the procedure of international adoption from Korea to Denmark during the 1970s and 1980s.
Source: KSS Adoptees
Danish International Adoption (DIA).
Adoption Center / AC eventually became the Danish Adoption Agency Danish International Adoption (DIA). However, DIA was not started until 2015, which is AFTER KSS STOPPED processing overseas adoptions in 2012.
DIA Website
DIA History (Website)
About DIA (Website):
Translated from the original Danish:
”Who are we:
DIA - Danish International Adoption is Denmark's only mediation organization for international adoptions and is headquartered in Holte, north of Copenhagen, and has a small branch in Aarhus.
DIA is an independent, self-governing institution accredited by the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Elderly. The framework for DIA's work is further regulated in the accreditation terms between DIA and the National Board of Appeal.
DIA was created through a merger in January 2015 of the two dissemination organizations AC Børnehjælp and DanAdopt.
DIA's task is to ensure the best upbringing for children who do not have the opportunity to grow up in a family in their own country or come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. We do this by arranging international adoptions to Danish adopters when there are no other options for giving the child a family as well as safe and stable social relations in the home country. Read our articles of association here.
DIA currently mediates international adoptions from the following countries: Burkina Faso, the Philippines, India, Madagascar, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and the Czech Republic.
DIA's employees have in - depth knowledge of international adoption, including legislation and basic principles in the field of adoption in Denmark and the places with which the organization cooperates, including the Hague Convention, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Convention on Human Rights.
To ensure that the adoptions are carried out on a solid, legal basis, we naturally work in accordance with the law in the places we work with.”
Translated from the original Danish:
”Hvem er vi
DIA – Danish International Adoption er Danmarks eneste formidlingsorganisation for internationale adoptioner og har hovedkontor i Holte, nord for København, samt en mindre afdeling i Århus.
DIA er en uafhængig, selvejende institution, der er akkrediteret af Social- og Ældreministeriet. Rammerne for DIAs arbejde er nærmere reguleret i akkrediteringsvilkårene mellem DIA og Ankestyrelsen.
DIA er blevet til gennem en fusion i januar 2015 af de to formidlingsorganisationer AC Børnehjælp og DanAdopt.
DIAs opgave er at sikre den bedste opvækst for børn, der ikke har mulighed for at vokse op i en familie i deres eget land eller kommer fra socialt trængte kår. Det gør vi ved at formidle internationale adoptioner til danske adoptanter, når der ikke er andre muligheder for at give barnet en familie samt trygge og stabile sociale relationer i hjemlandet. Læs vores vedtægter her.
DIA formidler i øjeblikket internationale adoptioner fra følgende lande: Burkina Faso, Filippinerne, Indien, Madagaskar, Sydafrika, Sydkorea, Thailand, Taiwan og Tjekkiet.
DIAs medarbejdere har indgående kendskab til international adoption, herunder lovgivning og grundlæggende principper på adoptionsområdet i Danmark og de steder, som organisationen samarbejder med, herunder Haagerkonventionen, FNs Børnekonvention og Den Europæiske Menneskerettighedskonvention.
For at sikre, at adoptionerne gennemføres på et solidt, legalt grundlag arbejder vi naturligvis i overensstemmelse med lovgivningen de steder, som vi arbejder med.”
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From DIA Website, concerning the phasing out of Korean Adoption from Denmark:
“DIA is phasing out adoptions from South Korea after more than 50 years of mediation
March 10, 2022
Since 1969, we in Denmark have arranged children for adoption from South Korea, but this is not how it should continue. Last week, it was finally decided that the collaboration on adoption mediation between DIA and the adoption organization Holt Children's Services in South Korea will be phased out.
"It is many years of good cooperation that is coming to an end now. It testifies to a positive societal development in South Korea that has been a long time coming. It is our assessment that South Korea is increasingly able to take care of children's upbringing and well-being - also for children born out of wedlock, "says DIA's director, Robert Jonasen.
"Therefore, DIA in dialogue with Holt has made the difficult decision that the time has come to phase out the cooperation around the mediation of adoptions in South Korea," he continues.
Improved conditions for single mothers lead to fewer adoptions
The country has been in rapid development since the end of the Korean War in 1953 and the South Korean economy is now one of the strongest in the world. In the 1970s and 80s, international adoptions of South Korean children peaked, and since then the number has dropped steadily.
The majority of the children adopted from South Korea have been children of single mothers who have traditionally experienced violent stigma in Korean society. By allocating greater resources to help single mothers, South Korea has begun to seriously address a serious, societal issue.
"In recent years, the South Korean government has increased its efforts for vulnerable children and their families, in order to be able to take better care of them," says DIA's country manager and adoption coordinator for South Korea, Debby van Hamburg Pedersen.
It is an increased focus by the South Korean government on vulnerable children and their families in the form of a new piece of legislation, the Child Protection Act, which has had an impact on the number of international adoptions. This has led to a decrease in the number of children who need an international family.
At the same time, the government has tried to increase national adoptions so that more children have the opportunity to grow up in their country of origin. Since 2007, the number of national adoptions in South Korea has therefore exceeded the number of international adoptions from South Korea.
DIA sees this as a positive development, as it ensures more Korean children a life in their own family or alternatively in another Korean family.
It is a development we are proud of
“It is important that an organization like DIA does not continue to mediate children when conditions in the country change positively. In other words, it is DIA's position that we should not help children through adoption in a country that can take care of their children in their home country, ”adds Robert Jonasen.
"For many years, DIA has supported single mothers in South Korea so that they have been able to keep their children. So what we are seeing now is a development we are actually proud of, ”he says.
Efforts to help single mothers in South Korea are not new. Several organizations, including Holt Children's Services, are implementing welfare programs for the benefit of single mothers and their children. This helps single mothers to get to work so that they gain independence and can take care of their own child regardless of whether they have the support of their family or not.
In the picture above: The members of the Korea club gathered for a joint photo.
Facts
It is estimated that since 1969, about 9000 adoptees have come to Denmark from South Korea.
The Korea Club is the Danish interest organization for Korean adoptees. They offer a wide range of events, which include social, cultural and adoption-related activities.
Denmark has the second largest number of Korean adoptees in the world after the United States.
Dissemination of Korean children takes place in several countries
Over the years, Danish parent couples have adopted around 9,000 South Korean children through adoption. In the 70s and 80s, up to 400 children arrived for adoption from South Korea annually. Since then, that number has dropped considerably, and in recent years there have been 3-6 adoptions annually from South Korea to Danish parents.
The new societal development means that Holt has been in dialogue with several countries to downgrade or stop the cooperation on the placement of children for adoption.
The collaboration is expected to be finalized within one to two years. This does not affect the couples who currently. is on the waiting list. No new adopters will be placed on the waiting list, but the ongoing cases will be settled as planned. DIA expects to continue the collaboration with our long-standing partner Holt in other areas and will therefore continue to maintain close contact with Holt regarding help and support in relation to children.”