Norwegian Adoptee Returns to Korea After 43 Years, Shares His Message

"I found the Daejeon Station where I was discovered and handed out flyers to the citizens, and everyone was kind."

Kim Thomas Riseng (46, Korean name Kim Minsu), a Korean adoptee from Norway who stood in front of Daejeon Station for the first time in 43 years, said in an interview with Yonhap News on the 30th, "Coming back to the place where I was abandoned made me emotional but also at peace. I think it's because of the warm Korean people."

Korean Adoptee Family in Norway, Kim Min-su
[Photo by Yonhap News]

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Last September, he shared his story of searching for his birth mother through Yonhap News. Afterwards, on the 28th of last month, he set foot on Korean soil, his mother's country. After graduating from university and becoming a certified accountant, Kim married a wife he met in Peru, had a son, and built a happy family.

In June 2021, he was suddenly diagnosed with stomach cancer. Kim underwent cancer surgery, but the cancer recurred within four months, and he has been continuing chemotherapy and radiation therapy. At that time, he said, "Just the thought of losing my beloved son made me feel like I was going to die," and "I wondered if my mother might have lost me too."

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

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The stomach cancer Kim has been battling for four years has worsened recently despite repeated chemotherapy. His attending physician strongly advised against traveling to Korea, but Kim set foot on Korean soil for the first time in 42 years.

He visited the orphanage where he stayed before adoption and the Daejeon City Hall, but only found records of the date he was found, photos, and orphanage admission records; there were no records about his biological parents. Kim was found crying in the waiting room of Daejeon Station around 5 p.m. on April 24, 1981, and was entrusted to the Daejeon Pearls Orphanage (now Neulsarang Child Center). According to records such as the child’s personal card, his date of birth is April 25, 1977, but even that is uncertain.

Photo of Minsu Kim during school days [Photo by Yonhap News]

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Earlier, he said, "My adoptive parents told me I was born in 1979 and was abandoned at Seoul Station, but after investigating myself, I found out I was born in 1977 and was found at Daejeon Station," adding, "With the certainty that many things I knew until now might not be true, I started to think that maybe my biological parents did not abandon me."

Currently, by his side during his visit to Korea are his Norwegian adoptive father, his wife, and his nine-year-old son.

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