Interview With Former Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS / ECWS) Social Worker / Whistleblower - Wednesday, October 19th, 2022 at 3 pm (Korea Standard Time).

Published to Paperslip on August 26th, 2024
This article may not be reproduced / cited without permission and credit

Below are NOTES from a previously unpublished interview that was conducted on camera in Busan, Korea on Wednesday, October 19th, 2022 (*not 2021) at 3 pm KST, with a former Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS / ECSW) social worker / whistleblower who has chosen to remain ANONYMOUS. The interview was filmed as part of an SBS documentary, but this extensive interview unfortunately did not make the final cut for the documentary.

*Please note that the former ESWS social worker only spoke in Korean, and the questions and answers were translated live by a Korean / English translator present at the interview. These are notes based on the live translation of the interview as it was happening. Due to the live note taking we were doing in the midst of the interview, some sentences / passages may be confusing. In publishing this, we tried to make things as clear as we could without changing the original intent of what the former ESWS social worker said.

*Note that except where noted otherwise, “foster parent” means “adoptive parent”. OA means “Overseas Adoption”.

*Note that generally where we say “she” this refers to the interview subject, the former ESWS social worker / whistleblower.

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Interview with ANONYMOUS former Eastern Social Welfare Society / ESWS social worker / Wed Oct 19th, 2022, 3 pm in Busan, Korea:

QUESTIONS / ANSWERS:

Question: How much work did you do? Self intro? 

Answer: She worked at ESWS in Sept 1979 for about 5 years til 1984 - a long time ago. That was her first job after university. She still continues to work in social welfare. 

Q: What kind of work did you do there? 

A: Every agency is different, the functions of the different departments - the department she was in was in charge of all children for overseas adoption til the moment they left the country. One of the most important work they had was to take care of them. Once the children were in the facility for a month, they created for the foster (adoptive) parent (reports) about how the children were developing / their growth - whether they had medical problems, etc. The organization created a home study. The other agencies in the other countries - US and Australia - once we sent the children, those agencies found foster parents for the children. (Note: *foster parents = adoptive parents). They would go over the home studies, they could not accommodate all children with various needs / conditions. There were a lot of difficulties - children could have physical issues, could be fine at first, as grew, could have problems. Put a lot of effort to managing those children. The laws changed, in the beginning, it would have been that only orphans could be sent for Overseas Adoption, (but later) the laws changed so that children could be orphans or (the child of) one parent, children with handicaps - a lot were not really orphans - the law changed in the 5 years that she worked (as a social worker). She is not familiar with the term “intake”. 

Q: What does intake mean?

A: General term for receiving children. The initial process of receiving children (was) called intake. They also did neighborhood adoption - (?) - domestic adoption. Also interviewed foster (adoptive) parents in Korea for adoption. She is going over the process of domestic adoption, the parents consult for the process of adoption. In her dept, they only accepted children, they received them only. When they received these children, they assumed these children were for Overseas Adoption (OA). It’s possible that they could have happened that these children could be adopted domestically, but it was not common. Most went for OA. 

Q: Can she repeat what she did? 

A: There are different parts of the organization - if children were designated for domestic adoption, they would still receive them as well, would find good foster (*in this case, foster DOES mean foster) parents in Korea as well. ESWS checked if (the foster parents) had resources to look after the children, until they were processed for OA. If they received letters from foster (adoptive) parents in Western countries, they would reply to them, it was not common but foster (adoptive) parents from overseas would come to pick up the child from Korea. In that case they would take them to the foster (*in this case, foster DOES mean foster) parents in Korea to show them how the child was. They worked on this as well. Also they worked on homestudies. They were very busy - the whole process from start to finish, very busy. There is more (to the adoption) process, for example working on the children’s passports, etc - but she does not know the details, (she knows about) mainly what they did - she does not know about the other part of the process. 

There was no concept of follow up, they were just busy sending children. She said the receiving Western Adoption Agencies did send letters to follow up, sometimes if there was a very difficult situation they would receive those letters. They did not have the resources to do follow up - were supposed to have 2 year follow up but did not have the resources to do this, and this was not her main work. It wasn’t written that once they sent them, there was no responsibility - it wasn’t clear legally but it was assumed that they had no responsibility. After children were sent abroad, it was assumed that it would be better for them not to stay too long in Korea and get attached. Babies were ok but kids over 100 days would remember and feel attached. Even the young kids that spent 13-14 hours (being transported from Korea to Western countries of adoption), would get attached. There was nothing they could do. The best thing they could do was expedite the time that the children stayed in Korea.

Q: How long was that process?

A: 3 months - some children would get sick, studies were supposed to be sent in one month - kids could get sick in that period - in that case, it would take longer than 3 months. 

Q: Why did you enter the Korean Adoption Agencies? (Start working at ESWS)?

A: She graduated 1979 Fall, did not have a job, not many jobs available. ESWS was part of the outside agencies - at the time, ESWS was part of the Red Cross, they were being separated, when she entered, there was a lot of controversy around it. Conflicts arose over this issue. She just got a job, she did not know much about the adoption agencies, she majored in social welfare, she wanted to do something in that field. One of her older acquaintances had to give up her position because she was getting married, but when she got married, she had to quit, so she took over her position. Her older friend believed a bit that overseas adoption should be final resort. But she didn’t know anything at that time. 

Q: Did you quit early for any reason? 

A: She worked for 5 years - she was traumatized because it was difficult - 3-5 years was difficult, was different than any other kind of work. A lot of people think it was for a good cause. She wants to forget about the work. In fact it was one of the reasons she wanted to leave social welfare for good. She left eventually. She thinks she has fantasies about social welfare business that are not realistic. It’s not the kind of work that she would repeat because it involves the entire life of the children. Those children’s lives would be totally different depending on how we match children to parents, but we did not have the power to do that once children were sent. But once we sent at least we did not have to have that responsibility. Depending on who the foster (adoptive) parents were, the lives of the children would be totally different and that put pressure on her. She wanted to benefit the welfare of humans but even though she worked at a receiving department she was so busy she would forget about details, she applied for this job because there was an overseas agency - the idea of taking a break on Saturday was attractive at first - she only worked til Friday. Once she did consulting for unmarried women, it’s not something that we can decide in one session. She is sure they (the birth mothers) had many conflicts emotionally, she cannot provide any physical evidence. She had this pressure the unwed mothers with the child - there was this pressure she felt that she was not just going to be a consultant (to unwed mothers). It was once pointed out that not receiving the child into the agency (was a bad thing) - at the time, there was a general perception for those who worked that OA were positive / good for the children. 

Q: Why?

A: It was difficult to raise children, there were many unwed mothers. Even the ones with college degrees had to stop working when they got married so how could they raise children? If a child becomes / if a single mom raises a child - they need to get help but there were times they had to disconnect the child from relatives - thought this was best. We thought we were respresenting the children. There is a reason she is doing this interview. She feels regret and sorrow and discomfort for the things she did - it hurts her. Something she did - and she is very interested in hearing OA looking for their roots - she thought it was something she could work on. One of her hopes was that their (Western adoption agency) system was totally different than ours - they had the power - she never thought it was possible that the agencies could have the power to pick the foster (adoptive) parents, she did not think it was possible. She never received additional education about - never discussed why we are doing this, never trained, she is not here to place blame, but if it is something that is needed, then she thinks they should make a program for it. The organizations - they changed every 3 years so they were never in the position to train us. She had a friend who was older who wrote a thesis on finding the root of adoptees who said they would come back to try to find their origin. She worked with this person but didn’t know the process for receiving children. We never doubted the papers from the birth parents. But the adoptees who come back for BFS (birth family search) spend their lives to find the truth based on the little bit of info (they have) - the reality now is that apparently there were some agencies that showed this info to adoptees - she does not know if it is true but now the agencies don’t have access to that info. But if they (the Korean Adoptees) bring a translator - it is difficult because (the system is now) more closed - She would like to show that it is important that we evaluate what happened. If just about right / wrong / get boxed in - mixture of problems - it is difficult for them to open up the (adoption background) info because there were many reasons to be attacked. The way she feels regret is because the agencies will not reveal the info to adoptees when they ask because that info they want to learn about themselves to make themselves feel better - she agreed to be interviewed to be helpful about where adoptees can get info. What the process - it makes her feel regret that the OA process continues. 

Q: Why do you think the OA should stop? 

A: Because they (Korean Adoptees) are Korean. When we process adoptions, the children who mattered the most were not part of the process, they (the social workers) just believed it was best for them. These were the factors as they worked - for example some people were creating - wanted a bigger business / things got bigger. What she learned is it takes enormous courage to stop when it is no longer needed. At that time, children were going for OA, but after 30-40 years (she) realized it was not the case that they were not just being sent abroad to be educated. She realized it was not enough. So many adoptees say they don’t blame the birth parents - they can move on past the history - but she think agencies are having a hard time understanding that and things need to change - back then they did not have $. It’s not just Korea but the adoptees - children have the right to grow up w their families. We have one of the lowest birthrates yet we are #3 in number of OA. (Still process OA) - it makes no sense. One thing we respect the US for is how they protect those outside their country as well, and I want to help with my voice. 

Q: Not having children’s voice as part of adoption process

A: Not something we could have done - in the beginning everyone had pure good intention, but things changed, heart changed. If we attack their intentions - that got corrupted - they will only box themselves in more. I don’t think it’s the agencies - it’s the country. The adoptees should work with the government not the agencies. 

Q: What do you mean by $ involved? 

A: It’s difficult to talk about it now - I was never interested in knowing how much $ was received for adoptions, I was never curious about it. How - doing OA business, I don’t know about Holt - but I cannot tell if one is right or wrong. Something I speak based on pure assumption. 

Q: You mentioned government involvement

A: The government must think about how families have to be taken care of within Korea 

Q: She has learned many adoptees trying to find root, government is not helpful

A: At first, everything very difficult - in Korea the handicapped community - they started the movement, unless congressmen become better and start the movement, it’s all the people who started the movement. No voice is louder than the people. Because the OA - can become the basis for the movement. She believes there can be progress. The reason why continue OA even though - most people don’t know that Korea still does OA. There will inevitably be situations - cannot take care of children - the concern re OA must be from perspective of understanding they are Koreans within Korea first. 

Q: Adoptees have their own community and share their stories. Many of them say when they try to find families docs were not enough and switched

A: Shocking cannot imagine - if want to visit workplace, she wanted to check after hearing it, it was shocking. Adoption agencies were very secretive and she thinks they still are. In a sense every company wants to protect secrets, but it seems the communities are having discussions about these wrong things - if the major agencies get together to discuss issues from past - she doubts it. At the time, single moms came with children, only had 2-3 places where could give birth and get practical education - many children w cleft lips, the mothers would be very much be abused and have difficult time in the family, some continued to have children. There were families that wanted to have children, asked if the OA process was not helping Adoptees to reunite, there was no system to reunite those families except OA. That is why even it was difficult for her to give them any alternative because there was no support system for her, it was unrealistic for her - she thought people should have certificate in order to get married - because she was tired. Some had twins, but would keep son but not daughter - she could not tell was inhumane. Were mostly girls who were given up. 

Q: Were girls more likely to be adopted? 

A: Domestically there was more demand in Korea for girls - she thinks. When got the homestudy - girls - unwanted as 2nd or 3rd girl - (ESWS) could not put (this) in the English documents because then the child/ren could not get (legally adopted - so (ESWS) orphanized all of them. The rules changed so that if the father was still in touch (Korean Adoption Agencies / ESWS) could not process for OA so she wrote so that he was “missing” so that the child could be adopted. There was no way for us to verify the address we wrote in the initial studies, so we just took (at face value) what they wrote to us. There were things that she did because she knew and things that she did not know, she regrets - not being able to see 20-30 years in the future - she was young. In that sense she feels very sorry for adoptees.

KSS (Korea Social Service) is like the Kremlin - ESWS and Holt were physically nearby, if the areas are close by we also had similar or the same foster (*in this case, foster DOES mean foster) parents, who came to get (children, presumably) vaccinated, would overlap but surprisingly, the same foster (*in this case, foster DOES mean foster) parents - difficult to take care of children - sometimes they would even look after 3 while processing papers - those foster (*in this case, foster DOES mean foster) mothers were veterans that we acknowledged. Sometimes would get a report that the neighbors said the babies were crying from the house - a surprise visit (by ESWS) would result - then we realized that (foster mothers were) taking care of Holt and ESWS babies at the same time. They were not supposed to. Each agency had its own style - ESWS was very dictator like.

Holt - she heard rumors about Holt - but KSS she never heard anything about it. She never heard anything regarding their (KSS’) style of management. 

There was a time where the number of OA increased a lot each year - doesn’t know exact numbers - but that is why she was tired from the workload, many children being sent out. Just like how she felt pressured when single mothers came with their mothers to get the birth mother to relinquish her child/ren, she assumes there was a pressure to (relinquish)

She assumes that there must be competition to receive the children between the different Korean Adoption Agencies. In Korea there is a culture of - she recalls hearing how for nurses and doctors - $ can change peoples’ heart - at first they said no, at first (?)

For example, Korean Adopton Agencies made branches (feeder orphanages) like NK (Nam Kwang Orphanage in Busan) - a lot - among adoptees many came from NK - she thought only the ESWS received children from NK (but this was not the case)

Q: KSS / Holt also received (children from Nam Kwang Orphanage in Busan)

A: So the way they (Korean Adoption Agencies) processed, gathered children from different branches (feeder orphanages) and sent them to the clinic / protective shelter in case they were sick, would come as a group (6?) - our office would get super busy if children going from Daegu / Busan - 12 kids - she was in charge of children going from Daegu - and the children came to our office / afterwards, each one was assigned to the mother and children, we got to pick foster (*in this case, foster DOES mean foster) parents for these children - would take photos of children - the photo studio was right next to the agency. The photo became the picture for the foster (*in this case, foster DOES mean foster) parents - when the children would grow up a little, we would take photos for the visa.

Paperslip Note: Regarding file falsification that was not specifically switching:

When she received little young children, she thought they needed a bit of time, so she spoke briefly that it was difficult to process that the child was a little older, someone must have looked after - went to her boss, not so long after (ESWS) received more children, she took photos of the child for the visa - when (ESWS) received (another) child for (the adoption) procedure, she realized that the same photo was used for the new child. The new child did not have any (background) info. It’s not like the first child had died and then the 2nd child took (was given) it’s identity (switching) - this is totally different. It’s the same child - do you mean it’s the same child that came in later with a different name? So we went with a different name. (We thought) the first child thought was too old to be processed, but then after a while, the (same) child came back with a different name (in order to be processed for overseas adoption). 

Paperslip Note: Sorry for the garbled notes, we were not totally clear on this story:

She is talking about the homeless Korean Adoptee twins in Washington, DC - the birth father - it was difficult to raise two girls - but the girls remembered the twin (?) boys (*Paperslip Note: We are not sure of the accuracy of our translation of this story). The SBS documentary (linked above) showed that 2 children were misplaced (went missing) - the adoption process did not involve the children, only talked to the father. Much difficulty with receiving children. From the documentary, the older daughter asked what happened to the sisters, he (presumably the birth father) would not answer, older brother stopped asking. The children have to come first. Now if she thinks about it and the current time that we live in, it is totally ridiculous. (*Paperslip Note: It seems that the twin Korean Adoptee girls who were believed to have “gone missing” were actually relinquished by their Korean birth father. The twins were adopted to the US but ended up living homeless on the streets in Washington, DC, and from the SBS documentary appear to have mental health issues. They were not open to meeting with their biological brother who located them living on the streets in Washington, DC).

Q: Many return adoptees return to find their root - feel hurt. Does she have anything to say to them? 

A: She is very regretful. A returning adoptee killed himself, couldn’t get citizenship, she went to (an Adoptee’s) funeral before Covid, she wants to help adoptees but can also imagine how adoptees must feel. Communication - could only become the middle bridge for them - how children have different perceptions of their (birth) parents as they grow older. We can’t change / replace parents - we can only communicate / when they are not living in Korea - just how they are really well connected, things can become extreme because in a sense because of the communication barrier - adoptee community goes off of the general perception of the culture, wants to provide housing for OA. Thinks it’s important for adoptees to grow and understand the culture. Adoptees feel strongly emotional because Korean Adoption Agencies don’t disclose (their background information), but if she were in that position, she can imagine why but it still makes (Adoptees like me) angry, and she sympathizes. But to find a solution, she can also put her effort into it. That’s how things are.