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omonatheydidThe US Congress has approved a bill which aims to make it possible for Americans to adopt orphaned North Korean children.
The North Korea Refugee Adoption Act instructs the US State Department to devise a comprehensive strategy to facilitate the adoption of North Korean children by US citizens.
US Republican lawmaker Ileana Ros Lehtinen, a key backer of the bill, said late last year that the legislation aims to "provide loving families for some of the world's most endangered children."
The bill would "require the State Department to take a broad look at the diplomatic and documentation challenges facing American families who would like to adopt North Korean orphans, and report to Congress on potential strategies to address them," said Ros Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, speaking on the floor of the US legislature.
The measure was passed by the House in September and by the Senate last week. It must still be signed by President Barack Obama.
The measure passed as it emerged the number of North Korean refugees fleeing to the South fell sharply last year, officials in Seoul said, with activists citing crackdowns and tighter border controls.
A total of 1,508 North Koreans arrived in the South in 2012 - nearly all of them via China - down from 2,706 the previous year, the Unification Ministry said.
Activists said the North had cracked down on people trying to flee the country under new leader Kim Jong-un, who took power following the death of his father Kim Jong-Il in late 2011. Supporters of the measure said many North Korean children become orphaned or stateless when their families flee with them to China or other neighboring nations, and that the youngsters often are left without the proper care.
But many children who remain in North Korea fare no better, Ros Lehtinen said.
"We are all too keenly all aware of the extreme repression, malnutrition, and poverty suffered by so many inside North Korea today. Those threats often take the greatest toll on children," the Republican lawmaker said.
Any efforts to facilitate adoptions, Ros Lehtinen said, would ensure that the North Korean adoptees are genuine orphans, and not victims of child trafficking.
The author of the bill, Republican Representative Ed Royce, will take over the chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from Ros Lehtinen when Congress convenes a new session next week.
The United States is home to the largest ethnic Korean population outside of Northeast Asia, with nearly two million Americans of Korean descent.
telegraph.co.uk
The North Korea Refugee Adoption Act instructs the US State Department to devise a comprehensive strategy to facilitate the adoption of North Korean children by US citizens.
US Republican lawmaker Ileana Ros Lehtinen, a key backer of the bill, said late last year that the legislation aims to "provide loving families for some of the world's most endangered children."
The bill would "require the State Department to take a broad look at the diplomatic and documentation challenges facing American families who would like to adopt North Korean orphans, and report to Congress on potential strategies to address them," said Ros Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, speaking on the floor of the US legislature.
The measure was passed by the House in September and by the Senate last week. It must still be signed by President Barack Obama.
The measure passed as it emerged the number of North Korean refugees fleeing to the South fell sharply last year, officials in Seoul said, with activists citing crackdowns and tighter border controls.
A total of 1,508 North Koreans arrived in the South in 2012 - nearly all of them via China - down from 2,706 the previous year, the Unification Ministry said.
Activists said the North had cracked down on people trying to flee the country under new leader Kim Jong-un, who took power following the death of his father Kim Jong-Il in late 2011. Supporters of the measure said many North Korean children become orphaned or stateless when their families flee with them to China or other neighboring nations, and that the youngsters often are left without the proper care.
But many children who remain in North Korea fare no better, Ros Lehtinen said.
"We are all too keenly all aware of the extreme repression, malnutrition, and poverty suffered by so many inside North Korea today. Those threats often take the greatest toll on children," the Republican lawmaker said.
Any efforts to facilitate adoptions, Ros Lehtinen said, would ensure that the North Korean adoptees are genuine orphans, and not victims of child trafficking.
The author of the bill, Republican Representative Ed Royce, will take over the chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from Ros Lehtinen when Congress convenes a new session next week.
The United States is home to the largest ethnic Korean population outside of Northeast Asia, with nearly two million Americans of Korean descent.
telegraph.co.uk
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no subject
Date: 2013-01-05 10:01 pm (UTC)Do you know if in Portugal is allowed to adopt children from China (not going to ask from Korea because something tells me it isn't)
my parents have been wondering for a while and I would like to know.
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Date: 2013-01-05 10:13 pm (UTC)me and my parents really want to adopt but we don't want to be fooled by those people who say they are from adoption centers but in the end they just want your money
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Date: 2013-01-05 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-05 10:27 pm (UTC)Does the NK gov have a say in adoption procedure? and if so would they allow such adoption?
They don't seem to kind about letting any of their citizen go... or would this only apply to children who have fled NK?
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Date: 2013-01-05 10:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-06 09:55 am (UTC)That's a good thing though, those kids deserve to be happy
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Date: 2013-01-05 10:44 pm (UTC)but it's probably going to be a long process to adopt these children. i'm sure the agency handling the adoption still has to make sure that the parents of these children truly are dead or don't want them anymore/not looking for them.
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Date: 2013-01-06 09:53 am (UTC)Hope the kids do find a family though
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Date: 2013-01-05 11:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-05 11:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-06 12:21 am (UTC)I'm really hoping this works out. I bet there will be trafficking but at least the kids get to go to better homes
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Date: 2013-01-06 12:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-06 01:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-06 12:21 pm (UTC)guess I should google if they're married with a Finn :P
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Date: 2013-01-06 12:21 am (UTC)so yay cause korean baby's r so cute!!
II hope they all get good families that will love them a lot!
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Date: 2013-01-06 12:27 am (UTC)shutupandtakemymoney.gif
Srs tho that's great
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Date: 2013-01-06 02:58 am (UTC)I should think about this, eventually I guess I'll adopt too, one day hopefully I can give some kid in need a loving home.
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Date: 2013-01-06 08:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-06 11:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-06 07:35 pm (UTC)I'd rather resources were committed to women to either prevent an unwanted pregnancy to begin with or resources to help mothers raise their child without public scorn and poverty. Too much to ask though. They're supposed to be communist but I guess that classless, genderless, ideal of statehood is a pipe dream.
Here's hoping whatever household they end up in is a caring one and not one with some colonist minded asshole who wants a fashion accessory baby to show off what a "good person" they are.