"Longing Deepened During Cancer Treatment" Korean Adoptee Searching for Birth Mother

Discovered at Daejeon Station Waiting Room Around 5 PM on April 24, 1981
"Before It's Too Late... I Want to Hug Mom Tight"

Kim Thomas Riseng (46, Korean name Kim Minsu), a Korean adoptee from Norway, has been battling stomach cancer for three years. He is searching for his mother, whom he was separated from 42 years ago. He said that the longer his chemotherapy lasts, the stronger his longing for his family grows, and he wants to give his mother a tight hug when they meet.

He was found around 5 p.m. on April 24, 1981, inside the waiting room of Daejeon Station and was entrusted to the Daejeon Pearls Orphanage (now Neulsarang Child Center). He was then adopted to Norway 42 years ago. According to the child’s personal information card, his date of birth is April 25, 1977, but since there was no note or letter with exact personal details among his clothes when he was found, even this is uncertain.

Mr. Kim Min-su at the time of discovery.
Photo by Yonhap News

In a video call with Yonhap News Agency, Kim said, "When I think that life could end soon, the starting point of my life, which I have lived without knowing all my life, becomes so desperate. I want to know how you have been all this time. If that is too much to ask, I would be satisfied just to confirm that you are alive."

After adoption, he grew up in the southern Norwegian cities of Tønsberg and Flekkefjord and majored in economics at the University of Tromsø. After graduation, he worked at a financial institution and is currently working as an accountant. He married his wife, whom he met in Peru in 2011, and they have a happy family with an 8-year-old son. He is currently settled in Oslo.

His school days were not easy. He faced discrimination and bullying among white peers. He revealed, "My younger brother, two years younger, is also a Korean adoptee, and we were always teased at school with names like 'yellow,' 'monkey,' and 'Chinese.'"

His adoptive parents avoided mentioning the secret of Kim’s birth and Korea, telling him from a young age that "your biological parents abandoned you." They told him he was born in 1979 and abandoned at Seoul Station. However, upon checking, he was found at Daejeon Station in 1977.

Mr. Kim Min-su (center), his wife Himena, and their son.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Korean identity he thought he had forgotten remained a burden on his heart even after becoming an adult. Watching his son, who looks just like him, grow up, he decided he must find his biological parents before it’s too late.

However, in June 2021, he was diagnosed with cancer. He has been undergoing chemotherapy and searching for his biological parents through the Child Rights Protection Agency. He is preparing for a DNA test locally in Norway. Through the Korean Embassy in Oslo, he plans to register his DNA sample in the police missing children database and visit Korea next year.

Stories from other adoptees who found their biological parents in Korea and learned that their parents did not abandon them but lost them have given him great strength.

But he said that even if it turns out his biological parents did abandon him, he would not hold resentment. He vowed to continue chemotherapy without giving up and to find his family.

He said, "I have so many questions about how my parents have lived, what kind of child I was, and whether I have siblings. There is a record that a bundle was next to me when I was found at Daejeon Station. But I cannot find any record that the bundle came with me to Norway. It may be impossible to trace the whereabouts of the bundle from 42 years ago, but I will try to find out when I go to Korea. I believe that both cancer treatment and finding my family will be miracles."

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