​Background

Over the years, dedicated individuals and groups like KOA (Korean Overseas Adoptees), ASK (Adoptee Solidarity Korea), TRACK (Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoptee Community of Korea), and SPEAK (Solidarity and Political Engagement of Adoptees in Korea) have taken the lead as spaces for education and activism for our adoptee community in South Korea. As these trailblazing organizations have retired, IbyangIN draws on their histories to create opportunities for our community ​to respond to current affairs and policies that impact us.

​IbyangIN was initiated by former members of Euro-Korean League - Korea (1994), ASK (2004), TRACK (2009), and SPEAK (2017) who currently reside in South Korea, Australia, Canada, and the United States. ​IbyangIN includes adoptees, adoptee-led organizations, and allies who want to build the voice of our community.

IbyangIN is a registered NPO in South Korea and is also fiscally sponsored in the United States by Social Good Fund.

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Team

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JESSICA/EUNYUNG  BAIK

​(she/her)

Founding member of Adoptee Solidarity Korea ​(ASK) and founding board member of Asian Adult Adoptees of Washington (AAAW). EunYung loves surfing when she can. She holds her Master of Social Work and is currently an elementary school counselor.

Being part of IbyangIN and its collective work is meaningful and important to me. It's a way to continue building a movement of adoptees who are thinking critically about and actively changing the policies and practices of domestic and intercountry Korean adoption. "

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BEN COZ

(he/his/him)

​From Minnesota, USA. Currently in S. Korea. Co-founder of SPEAK; served as the community organizing director. Singer-songwriter of adoptee experiences, history/politics, and social issues. Approaches adoption through social work and community organizing lenses. B-boy and Hip Hop culture practitioner. 

​A lot of my life has been unpacking and creating what it means to be an adopted person. This has led me to connect with communities, other adoptees, and people from different backgrounds who face similar struggles. This has taught me that we’re all affected by similar systems of power. Through organizations like IbyangIN, I hope that we can elevate ​our voices as adoptees to positively impact what happens to the systems and forces that created us. "

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RYAN GUSTAFSSON

​Writer and researcher, based in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. Co-founder of Korean Adoptee Adoption Research Network (KAARN), and co-host of podcast Adopted Feels.

​I’m engaged in this work because understanding my - and our - experiences and histories of Korean adoption requires collective effort. It’s not something we can do alone. Connecting with, listening to, and learning alongside other adoptees feels immensely rewarding, and it’s exciting to be building more just futures together. "

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BOON YOUNG HAN

(she/her)

Boon Young HAN, MSW; Ph.D. candidate in social welfare at Seoul National University. Co-founder of Korean Adoptee Adoption Research Network (KAARN).

I returned to Korea about 20 years ago and although adoption had very little to do with my initial interest in Korea, I later chose to study social welfare to learn about the system. It has been encouraging to see and experience how our presence in and engagement with Korea has contributed to improvements for marginalized groups such as unwed mothers. I hope that the work of IbyangIN can connect more overseas adopted Koreans with Korea and its adoption history. "

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JAE KAUFFMAN

(he/his/him)

Amateur forager, brewer, and table tennis player; founding member of Adoptee Solidarity Korea (ASK).

If physically being in Korea was required to participate in an adoptee movement that shapes policy in Korea and holds the adoption industry and public agencies accountable, then I, and the vast majority of our community, would be left out. IbyangIN is a way I can show support to those who are doing the work in Korea. ”

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JULAYNE LEE

(she/her)

​ASK (Seoul) steering committee, Dual Citizenship Planning Committee, co-founder of ASK-Los Angeles, Adoptee Rights Campaign and Adoptees for Justice member, poet (Not My White Savior), artivist, producer, art curator, data analyst​.

​Participating in the work that shapes the future of the systems we come from is an important legacy we can all contribute to. A global coalition of overseas adopted Koreans and allies will inform adoption practices. "

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KIMURA BYOL LEMOINE

(ze/zer)
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​kimura*lemoine is co-founder of Euro-Korean League (1991, Belgium), EKL-Korea Branch (1994, S/Korea), K.O.A. (Korean Overseas Adoptee, 1996, Korea), KimLeePark (1998, S/Korea) G.O.A.’L. (1998, S/Korea), O.K.A.Y.-Books (2001-2008, S/Korea-Canada), Orientity (2004-2007, worldwide), N.O.K.I.A.A. (Network of Korean International Adoptee Artists, 2010), A.Q.A. (Asians/Autochtones /Afro-descendants Queer Adoptees, 2015), A.C.A. (adoptees cultural archives, 2015), IbyangIN (2021). 

​A day without abandon;
a day without adoption. "

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KIM STOKER

​Former representative of Adoptee Solidarity Korea (ASK); two decades of living in South Korea; artivist curator; writer; editor; educator; adopted to the U.S.

​The stories of adopted Koreans are the stories of all Koreans. It’s up to us to be the authors of our own history. "

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HELLE THAARUP

​Former F-4 and dual citizenship mentor at G.O.A.’L. and director of the Korean branch of 325KAMRA. 

​My work has revolved around adoption-related work since I moved to Korea in 2017. I have worked for adoptee-run organizations and been involved with the Korean adoptee community and allies here on the ground in South Korea. I am involved in this work because I believe in community work and connecting across borders. "