KAIAN Newsletter - October 2025

KAiAN
Oct 14
7 min read

What's news?

An update from the President
Post adoption services transition from ESWS to NCRC
New/updated post adoption services in Korea
Reconnecting with Korea project
Luke Bowden's Identity/신원 Project
Koreaboo recap and update!

An update from the President, Shaun Kwak:

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of travelling to Korea with a group of adoptee friends, to capture some of our experiences reconnecting with Korea. I was browsing through some of the footage and this photo stood out to me:

Donhwamun Gate closed for renovation at the Changdeokgung Palace.

To me, it encapsulates the vibe of 2025's current affairs impacting the Korean adoptee community and support services...

Limited access. Being rebuilt. Improvements for the future?

2025 has been an eventful year and will be inked into Korean adoption history. Most notably:

Eastern Social Welfare Society (and all Korean adoption agencies) transferred all adoption files to government agency National Centre for the Rights of the Child (NCRC, formerly KAS).
Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) delivered a damning report outlining systemic human rights issues with the Korean adoption program.

The adoptee Facebook groups* have lit up on these topics but amidst it all, adoptees continue to return to Korea in high numbers. Many adoptees are still discovering there's an adoptee community to be part of and many more continue to stay involved primarily for the social aspects. Like any community, there are a range of interests and perspectives on all of these topics.

*facebook groups: Korean Adoptees Korean Adoptees in Australia I am an adoptee from Eastern Social Welfare Society

Where is KAIAN amidst all of this?

In our volunteer capacity, we typically focus on cultural reconnection and social peer community events. We're also connected to a global community of leaders via the International Korean Adoptee Associations Network (IKAA) to share information between countries and unite on requests to the Overseas Korean Agency.

In terms of driving advocacy-related actions, our friends at AUSKRG and KADS Connect are leading the way on Korea-specific matters in Australia. KAIAN has joined certain causes given community-wide impacts:

In July, we joined 29 organisations across 14 countries, in addition to 5 domestic Korean organisations, in signing the EARS on NCRC's letter to Korean President Lee Jae-Myung for Safe Transfer and Historic Preservation of Korea's Intercountry Adoption Records.
In August, IKAA wrote a letter to Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare seeking clarifications on the transfer of post adoption services to NCRC, which KAIAN co-signed.
Alongside AUSKRG, KADS Connect and ICAV, KAIAN was invited to participate in initial community consultations with Minister Tanya Plibersek and the Department of Social Services, as the government commences design of Australia's investigation into the Korea-Australia adoption program. It's very early stages however we hope there are updates to share on this soon.

Post adoption services transition from ESWS to NCRC

In August, our original adoption files were transferred from Eastern to a temporary storage facility and may remain there for a few years until a more permanent solution is implemented. It is possible to request a file review appointment at the new location but concerns during the transition and relocation were raised seeking an improved solution for our irreplaceable records. EARS on NCRC have been following the movements closely if you'd like further information on the transition: https://earsonncrc.org/adoption-record-transfer/timeline/

Australian Embassy representatives attended a Korean National Assembly on this issue and the Aus Department of Social Services has been engaging with NCRC ahead of these changes.

*Last minute update* NCRC announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Archives of Korea, with intent to preserve our adoption files under their facilities. No specific details available yet but a positive indicator for a more suitable, permanent home for our origin documentation.

New/updated post adoption services in Korea:

Regarding Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission's findings, we'd like to recognise the tenuous work our global community's adoptee advocates have done in trying to get attention on these issues over the past decades. Our great hope is that ongoing improvements to post adoption services will be made available to us in the form of increased birth family search resources and increased opportunities to reconnect with our birth country's culture.

For now, the Korean government have begun taking first steps in response to the TRC findings. At the start of the month Korean President Lee Jae Myung issued an apology ahead of Korea finally ratifying the Hague Convention.

Concurrently, as part of the centralisation of adoption files and post adoption services to NCRC, NCRC have announced/clarified the following services:

Revised Adoption Information Disclosure Request Procedure and Visit Reservation Guide

This is the new process to request a birth family search or book an adoption file review appointment in Korea.

Issuance of the “Adoption Certificate” for Adoptees: For Visa (F-4), Restoration of Nationality, etc.

NCRC's website states a turnaround time of 7 days, which has been confirmed.

Reminders for DNA testing for reunion service.

Can be submitted via a Korean police station or requested from Australia via the Syd/Melb/Bris Consulates or Korean embassy in Canberra (responsible for all other States/territories).

Support for visits to Korea and reunions with birth families.

New translation service and new reunion service partnership with Nest Korea.

We're keen to hear and share feedback of adoptee experiences as this new service is accessed.

NCRC have only been responsible for most of these services for a few months so the value of our peer-to-peer community is especially important to share the latest advice. If you've attempted to use any of the above services recently and would like to share your experience, please let us know via info@kaian.org.au.

"Reconnecting with Korea" project

Amidst all the seriousness of recent current affairs and potentially complex feelings about Korea, it's important to remember we're also entitled to be curious and interested in our country of origin.

What's it like reconnecting with Korea as a Korean-born adoptee? Fun, confusing, exciting, emotionally fatiguing at times and a very broad spectrum of other emotions. Then to a greater extent, what's it like experiencing Korea with other adoptees?

Jade educating (or misinforming!) us about a Korean gesture...

Bossom alley in Jongno.

Thanks to the Australia Korea Foundation, a small group of us visited Korea in May/June to capture our experiences of what it's like to return to Korea. We had varying levels of familiarity with Korea to capture a mix of perspectives and spent the best part of 5 days/nights fitting in as much S(e)oul as we could. This isn't something we've ever done before so we tried to make the most of it!

We spent valuable time at the Global Overseas Adoptees Link (GOAL) office hearing about recent updates and seeking advice for our individual requests. Accompanied by GOAL, some of us went on to pursue proactive birth family searches visiting locations of interest and others began dual citizenship applications.

Louise Lindberg, GOAL Secretary General.

As per the previous updates regarding NCRC, many things have changed however some are the same. The police station DNA test to search for relatives is still available and can also be requested via the Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane Consulates, or the Korean Embassy in Canberra for ACT, SA, WA, TAS & NT.

Shaun giving a sample for the missing persons DNA test - Jongno police station.

We got out and about with a fairly ambitious sightseeing and workshop schedule, and of course the hottest day was hanbok dress-up day. I'll save further updates for when we publish the videos later this year but for now, here's some further previews:

Hannah being fabulous in the grounds of Changgyeonggung Palace.

Selfie time at the top of Bukchon Hanok Village.

Identity/신원 Project - early 2026

Sharing on behalf of another Korean adoptee recipient of an Australia Korea Foundation grant, Luke Bowden:

I am extremely honoured and excited to announce my exhibition proposal Identity/신원 (working title). This project has been significantly supported by the Australia Korea Foundation through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

For those that don’t know me, I was adopted from Eastern in 1984. I am a visual journalist with the ABC, based in Hobart. ( Identity/신원 is a personal project). I have worked extensively on Korean adoptee related stories including an extensive Background Briefing investigation into Eastern Social Welfare Society last year.

Identity/신원 is a photographic and multimedia exhibition that centres the voices and experiences of Australian Korean adoptees as they navigate identity, belonging, and the search for truth. Drawing on portraiture, documentary photography, and moving image, the exhibition invites audiences to engage with the emotional and psychological complexity of adoption and the impact of this new historical reckoning.

This project seizes a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for truth-telling, healing, and reconciliation between Australia and South Korea, responding directly to the landmark TRC findings released in March 2025.

Through accessible visual storytelling, Identity/신원 will connect Australian Korean adoptees, the broader Korean-Australian community, and the wider public, helping to build empathy and awareness.

The completed project will be exhibited in multiple community and regional galleries in Australia and hopefully in South Korea.

I’m reaching out to invite expressions of interest from fellow Australian-based Korean adoptees who may like to participate in this project. More details and how to contact me are included in the attached carousel of images but the key events will be two large group sessions planned for early 2026—one in Melbourne and one in Sydney. My hope is that as many of us as possible can join, so together we can create a powerful portrait of solidarity and our shared experiences.

In addition to the group sessions, there will be a limited number of opportunities to collaborate one-on-one across the country. Through these sessions, I aim to capture the everyday moments of adoptees’ lives—moments that speak quietly yet profoundly to our journeys of searching, remembering, and healing.

If you have any questions or are interested please find the contact information in the last image below.

Warmest,

Luke Bowden

luke@incrediblecreatures.com.au