Today’s guest post is Jinyou Kim.

Beyond HallYu published an article titled ‘The Drop Box’ and the realities of motherhood in South Korea by an unknown writer on June 14, 2013. In this article, the author brought an issue of the “baby box” in South Korea. The baby box was set up by Pastor Lee Jong-rak, and people who do not want their baby

[may] abandon the baby in the box and leave [without repercussion]. The author attached a video interview by Choi Hyung sook, a leader of the Korean Unwed Mothers Families Association (KUMFA), and Ms. Choi talked about the situation that she had gone through and the discrimination that she experienced as an unwed mother. The author stated several issues against the baby box. First, mothers would go to the baby box instead of going through the legal adoption system. This does not help Korean adoption agencies to keep accurate records of adoptees. Second, we are not sure whether the child who is abandoned in the box was left with their parents’ consent. According to this article, for adoptees, being unable to find their birth parents is a problem. The article makes readers think whether the baby box is good for the welfare of young children.

In the article, the author effectively compared two sides of the baby box in South Korea by showing Pastor Lee’s thoughts and the objectors’ thoughts. Through the article, readers can understand the hard situation and discrimination that unwed mothers face, and they can know the reasons why some people do not want the baby box to exist. By interviewing people who are related to the issue such as an unwed mother, an adoption policy maker, and a person who made the baby box, the two videos included with the article further support the author’s argument. Despite these strengths, there are some limitations. The author does not describe the reason why Pastor Lee decided to make the baby box. Pastor Lee actually decided to make it after he saw an abandoned baby who was almost dead because of hypothermia. According to the article, the number of abandoned babies has increased since the baby box appeared; however, the author did not explain the possibility of a direct relationship between the new adoption law that requires all abandoned babies to be registered with the government and the rise in newborns being abandoned. To enforce the new law is not easy because Korean unwed mothers are afraid of the social stigma on them.

In the documentary video, there were two people who expressed dissent to the baby box. Mr. Kim who runs an organization that helps adoptees to find their birth parents appeared in this video and claimed that mothers were persuaded to abandon their children by the baby box. Ms. Min who was involved in the revision of adoption law claimed that parents must register their babies with the government and that registration is a baby’s human right. These interviews promote myths that there is a causal relationship between the baby box’s existence and the rise in newborns being abandoned. After watching Ms. Min’s interview, people might think that babies who are not registered and abandoned cannot be adopted. Actually, the babies who are abandoned in the baby box are placed in foster care in Seoul and are able to be adopted as well. For a better understanding, we need more information about the new adoption law and how the babies from the baby box can go through the adoption system.

 

SBS story about the Drop Box

 

Interview with a single mother

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6sIQhREltk