IBYANG INTERNATIONAL NETWORK: GLOCAL ACTIVISM
(IKAA Gathering 2023 - July 14th (3-4h20pm - Room 317 B/C)
(IKAA Gathering 2023 - July 14th (3-4h20pm - Room 317 B/C)
Ibyang International Network (IbyangIN)
is a newly-formed nonprofit that advocates for the rights of overseas adopted Koreans in South Korea. IbyangIN have decades of collective experience working towards social and legal justice for the adoptee community. To mark the 70th year of official international adoption, IbyangIN will be sharing their activities of the past year, which highlight seminars on the history of Korea’s Special Adoption Law (SAL) and a unique dialogue with younger adoptees and the descendants of adoptees. They will be sharing videos that recap the seminars and introduce members’ journeys as activists. IbyangIN (Ibyang International Network/입양인 국제네트워크) was founded as a nonprofit in 2021, and is fiscally sponsored by Social Good Fund in the U.S. We represent adoptee activism in the glocal (global+local) age of online and in-person networking. IbyangIN is in the unique position of being based in both South Korea (local) and overseas (global)—with members living in Seoul, Melbourne, Copenhagen, Montreal, and three cities in the United States, speaking English, French, Danish, and Korean. As experienced activists (former and present returnee residents of South Korea), we have decades of collective experience advocating for the rights of adoptees. Our Speakers
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We would like to take the opportunity to mark the 70th year of (official) ICA from South Korea to introduce our organization to the attendees of the IKAA Gathering 2023 as we recap 30 years of adoptee-led advocacy and look towards the future.
Our objectives for this seminar are both informative and educational, as we share with IKAA Gathering attendees the tremendous progress and growth that our community has achieved in the past 30 years. That said, there is still work to be done. We hope that the outcome of our panel discussion will inspire folks to get involved in whatever way they can—but most importantly, to be aware of their rights and that they, too, can make a real difference in making life in Korea or visiting Korea a better experience for adoptees. As seasoned advocates for the rights of overseas adopted Koreans, we recognize the solidarity our community has with single mothers, original families, and domestic adoptees. In 2022 we held two seminars, in-person in Seoul and online via Zoom, covering the topics of the Special Adoption Law (SAL) and the younger generation and offspring of adoptees, both of which were fiscally sponsored by the National Center for the Rights of the Child (NCRC) and the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW). We would like to briefly recap these seminars for the audience and present the short videos we’ve made about the history of the SAL revision along with our founding members’ personal recollections on adoptee rights’ advocacy since the mid-1990s. We have also funded the translation into English of four videos produced by Domestic Adoptee Solidarity (국내입양인연대), of which we’d also plan to share highlights (not in entirety). |
Ben COZ (Korean adoptee in the U.S.) is 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. * Kim STOKER (Korean adoptee in the U.S.) is a former representative of Adoptee Solidarity Korea (ASK); two decades of living in South Korea; artivist curator; writer; editor; educator; adopted to the U.S. * kimura byol lemoine (Korean adoptee in Belgium) 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). |