“I’m not abandoning you… ”’Untact reunion’ after 36 years of my lost daughter

“I didn’t abandon you… .”

The last 36 years had lingered in my mother’s cry. Was the sincerity passed on to my daughter who couldn’t speak Korean at all? During the same period, my daughter, who sometimes lived in foreign lands resentful of her birth parents, said, “I Love You. I love you. I miss you.” The reunion after 36 years of mother and daughter was held at the Children’s Rights Guarantee Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 3rd at 1 pm on the 3rd with the help of video calls and interpreters.

36 years ago, her aunt (41, female), who had been lost and lived in a child protection facility, and was adopted to the United States, met her mother (67) and her eldest brother (46) again with the help of the police. The reunion, which took place on the 3rd, was held in an’untouch (non-face-to-face)’ method that connects Korea and the United States through an Internet video call.

The conversation between mother and daughter continued for 2 hours and 30 minutes with the help of an interpreter. She said to her daughter she met through a computer monitor, “I’ve lost you” and “I’m sorry.” The daughter said, “I was always lonely because I was left alone in the world.” Lee, the youngest of two sons and one daughter, lost his way in June 1985 when he was six years old when he went out to play with his friends in another town. Afterwards, a child shelter was temporarily protected and adopted to the United States. It is said that the child protection facility could not find Lee’s family because Lee only knew his name at the time and could not remember other information such as the family’s name or home address.

From Lee’s point of view, he had no choice but to live knowing that his parents abandoned him. However, the police explained that Lee’s parents searched all over the place to find their lost daughter. In particular, for about four years immediately after his disappearance, his father went to visit the churches and government offices in Seongnam to find him. The news of Mr. Lee was not heard, and parents struggled to think that their daughter would have died.

It was the same that Lee also anxiously sought his family. He tried to find a family member after he reached adulthood, but after having trouble with communication problems, he heard that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is helping Korean adoptees find their family through genetic testing. In October of last year, he requested help from the Consulate General of Los Angeles (LA). The Children’s Rights Guarantee Agency, who was commissioned by the LA Consulate General to find Lee’s family, paid attention to the possibility that Lee was a missing child based on the contents of the adoption record at the time. As such, the Seongnam Joongwon Police Station, the jurisdiction at the time of the disappearance, received a request for an investigation by the Children’s Rights Guarantee Agency.

The women and adolescents and the missing person investigation team at the Seongnam Joongwon Police Station analyzed Lee’s adoption records, contacted the adoptee more than 60 times by e-mail, and selected 1396 people who were estimated to be Lee’s family. After looking into their family relations and the history of changes in address, we found Lee’s mother and brothers. The genetic test results were also consistent. It was 3-4 months after the start of the investigation.

Lee’s memory that “my father was sick and injured his eyes” is said to have been a decisive help in reducing the subject of investigation. The father died in September of last year, not seeing the daughter he had longed for. A police official said, “The families are very sorry that the father died after not seeing the daughter.”

Daughter Lee said, “When the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) ends, I will visit Korea and meet my family in person.” My mother said, “I have lived hard since I lost my daughter. I am so grateful that I met you in my life,” and shed tears as if a mixture of joy and regret.

Reporter Chae Hye-seon [email protected]