I Wasn't Abandoned... A Woman in Her 40s Who Was Adopted Says, "I'm Looking for My Biological Parents"

A story has been shared about Park Sohee (40), who was placed in Masan Aeriwon shortly after birth and later adopted by a family in Korea, currently searching for her biological parents. The photo shows Park Sohee's childhood image (left) and her current appearance (right). [Photo provided by the Adoption Support Center, Korea Institute for Child Rights Advocacy]

[Asia Economy Reporter Su-mi Hwang] The story has emerged that Park So-hee (40), who was placed in a child welfare facility shortly after birth and later adopted by a family in South Korea, is searching for her biological parents.

According to Yonhap News on the 30th, Park recently sent a request for help along with photo materials to the Adoption Support Center of the Child Rights Protection Agency. Park was found around 10:30 p.m. on June 7, 1981, in front of '216-30, Gangnam-dong, Jinju-si, Gyeongnam.' Two days later, at the request of Changwon City Hall, she was placed in Masan Aeriwon, and was adopted domestically on July 11, about a month later.

The child card remaining at Changwon City Hall lists the name 'Park So-hee' and the date of birth as 'June 2, 1981.' It is also reported that the information about her biological parents is marked as 'unknown.'

Park only recently learned from her adoptive parents that she had been adopted from Masan Aeriwon, and since then, she has visited related institutions and begun searching for her biological parents.

In particular, when Park visited Changwon City Hall, which oversees Masan Aeriwon, she heard hopeful words from the team leader in charge, who said, "People presumed to be the biological parents came to the city hall 7 to 8 years ago looking for their daughter."

At that time, the parents reportedly told the team leader, "We did not abandon the child; we temporarily entrusted her to someone we knew. We want to find our daughter now," expressing their sorrow. The biological parents also learned belatedly that their daughter had been placed in a child welfare facility. Unfortunately, it is said that those presumed to be the biological parents left without leaving contact information.

Park is currently married, has a family, and resides in Iksan. She has submitted her genetic information to the Iksan Police Station as a missing child case.

Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Police Agency on the 24th, there were a total of 19,146 reports of missing children under the age of 18 (based on the time of reporting), including adolescents, last year. Looking at the missing children report status over the past four years, there were 19,956 cases in 2017, 21,980 in 2018, and 21,551 in 2019, showing around 20,000 cases annually, with 6,068 cases reported up to April this year.

Amid reports of around 20,000 missing children each year, it was found that 36 missing children from last year have yet to return to their families.

Since 2007, South Korea has designated May 25 as 'Missing Children’s Day' every year to raise social responsibility for missing children and to expand continuous public interest. On the 25th, marking the 15th Missing Children’s Day this year, commemorative events were held, and various promotional activities were conducted to urge social attention to missing children.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.