South Korean Mother Finds Long-Lost Daughter After 44 Years

A South Korean mom has been reunited along with her long-lost daughter, 44 years after they have been each separated. In May 1975, Han Tae-soon had gone to the market when she left her six-year-old daughter Kyung-ha enjoying close to their dwelling in Seoul. When Ms Han returned, her daughter had vanished.

For greater than 4 a long time, Ms Han tried desperately to seek out her daughter however to no avail. Just when all hope appeared misplaced, a breakthrough got here in 2019 when a DNA match via 325 Kamra, a gaggle that connects abroad Korean adoptees with their beginning dad and mom by matching the DNA, alerted a couple of match.

Ms Han was matched with Laurie Bender, a nurse in California. After a number of telephone calls to determine the identification, Ms Bender flew over to Seoul, the place the 2 had a cathartic and tearful reunion.

“I’ve been a hairdresser for 30 years. I can rapidly inform if it is my daughter simply by feeling her hair. I had mistakenly thought I discovered her earlier than, so I needed to contact and really feel the hair to substantiate it,” Ms Han informed the BBC.

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Eventually, they each pieced collectively the occasions that led to the painful separation. As per Ms Kyung, she was approached by an odd lady who took her away to the railway station, claiming that her mom didn’t want her any extra.

After the prepare trip, Ms Kyung was picked up by law enforcement officials and positioned in an orphanage. Soon, she was flown to the US, the place she was adopted by a pair in Virginia.

Ms Han is now suing the South Korean authorities, accusing it of failing to stop her daughter’s compelled separation and unlawful adoption. Her lawsuit is the primary of its type that goals to problem South Korea’s decades-long abroad adoption programme.

“I spent 44 years ruining my physique and thoughts looking for [my daughter]. But in all that point, has anybody ever apologised to me? No one. Not as soon as,” stated Ms Han.

Earlier this yr, a landmark inquiry discovered that successive South Korean governments had dedicated human rights violations by permitting personal companies to “mass export” youngsters for revenue on an industrial scale.