5 posts tagged “korea”

Wed Feb 20, 2008 -- http://news.yahoo.com

SEOUL (Reuters Life!) - More than 500 South Koreans braved the cold to attend a shamanistic ritual in front of the charred remains of a 600-year-old city gate ranked as the country's top national treasure.

The imposing wooden gate was destroyed last week in an arson attack.

A shaman walked over blades in a display of power meant to repel evil spirits and appease ancestors that might have been angered by the attack, while onlookers offered money to a pig's carcass symbolizing happiness.

"We organized this ritual service for visitors to bow with piety and with regrets to our ancestors," said Lee Ki-seon, one of the organizers of the three-day event that started on Tuesday.

South Korean police last week arrested a man who confessed to burning down Namdaemun, or "Great South Gate," because he was angry over compensation for a development project he said claimed his property.

Shamans in South Korea derive their beliefs from folk religions in northeast Asia. They are believed to communicate with the spiritual world and often offer their services in chasing away evil spirits or asking a dead relative for help and advice.

A group called the "Namdaemun lovers" organized the ritual.

"I thought it would stay near us all the time. Now my heart is breaking and I feel ashamed at the same time as a Korean," said Lee Jae-ho, 50.

It was a sentiment felt by many spectators at the ritual, who said they were ashamed because they failed to protect the gate.

"I feel ashamed to my offspring. I cannot describe what I am feeling. We should restore it for our descendants," said Kim Hee-bok, 68.

The arsonist apologized last Friday for setting the gate on fire. No one was injured in the blaze.

Namdaemun has withstood invasions and colonial occupiers and was one of the few historic structures in Seoul to remain standing after the 1950 to 1953 Korean War.

Since the attack, hundreds of outraged South Koreans have gathered near it every day.

(Reporting by Kim Do-gyun; Writing by Sophie Hardach; Editing by David Fogarty)

New laws that took effect this year designed to encourage Koreans to adopt more children while discouraging foreigners from doing so are having the desired effect, leaders of an adoption civic group said yesterday.
But there are still thousands of children languishing in orphanages because either there aren’t enough families willing to take them or they cannot be adopted because their parents didn’t sign the proper papers, the group said.

“This has been a burden in my heart for 10 years. How can I help those children?” said Stephen Morrison, an ethnic Korean who was adopted by an American family.

Under the new laws, a Korean can adopt a child for free. Foreigners must pay between 15 and 20 million won.
Also, the government will give Koreans a stipend of 100,000 won per child per month for each child adopted, and 550,000 won for each special needs child. Singles are also now allowed to adopt a child.

The goal, Han Yeon-hee, of the group Mission to Promote Adoption in Korea, told reporters at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents Club yesterday, “is not to stop overseas adoptions, but to raise our children in a place where the race, culture and language are the same.”

There are currently about 19,000 children in orphanages throughout Korea, Han said.

Of those, about 70 to 80 percent are still not eligible to be adopted. For that to happen, both parents have to sign the paperwork to release them. That can get complicated when the parents are divorced or when the mother is single, Han said.

When a parent puts his or her child in an orphanage, they don’t come back 90 percent of the time, Morrison said.
The civic group wants Korea to change its rules to make it easier to adopt such children.
“I remember meeting a girl who was 20 years old and living in an orphanage,” Morrison said. “Every year of her life, she said, ‘Perhaps my parents will come and adopt me this year.’”

The trend, however, is that fewer Korean parents are giving up their children, Morrison said, noting that orphanages are not even at capacity. He speculated that more single moms are willing to raise their children and that Koreans have become more educated and tolerant about the issue.

Last year, he said, Korean citizens adopted 41 percent of 3,231 children adopted, Morrison said, a percentage that is constantly growing.

Traditionally, Koreans have been resistant to adoption, at least in part due to the Confucian emphasis on family bloodlines.

By Brian Breuhaus Deputy Editor [bbreuhaus@joongang.co.kr]

Save-The-Date: July 31st-August 5th

"After the highly successful Gatherings in the U.S., Europe and Korea, International Korean Adoptee Associations, IKAA, is pleased to announce the IKAA Gathering 2007. It will be the biggest event ever planned and presented by Korean adoptee associations. Over 700 adoptees from around the world are expected to attend the event.The IKAA Gathering 2007 is intended to demonstrate that the global community of adult Korean adoptees, representing a diverse population of nationalities, languages and perspectives, can transcend these differences to meet and work together."

For more information, Click Here.