For #nationaladoptionweek, let's discuss how the Korean adoption industry emerged as a civilizing mission between the US & S. Korea after the Korean War, turning an unproductive surplus population (orphans) into productive citizen-subjects (Americans) 1/
The arrival of Western Christian missionaries into Korea at the turn of the 20th century introduced the foundations of the modern child welfare system--primarily orphanages where abandoned children were managed through standardized care. 2/
Prior to that in Korea, children displaced or abandoned due to war, political upheaval, or social unrest were taken in by other relatives, fostered, or taken in by others as a slave or servant. 3/
Transnational adoption of Korean orphans by foreigners was non-existent before the US occupation. However, an est. 100,000 Korean children were orphaned because of US military adventures during the Korean War in 1953. 4/
After the war, the # of orphans steadily increased due to rapid industrialization--poor working mothers abandoned their kids bc they could not afford to raise them/cultural stigma attached to single motherhood. As a result, the number of orphanages in S. Korea also increased. 5/
Also the # of abandoned kids can be attributed to US post-war financial support for Korean orphans. ~75% of kids in orphanages were sponsored by Americans abroad. By abandoning their kids, poor parents knew they would receive better education than they themselves could provide 6/
The S. Korean gov't came to rely on this American money, in the absence of substantial social welfare & family services. Orphanages and transnational adoption soon became the primary social welfare service offered to poor families. 7/
This ofc fueled further separation of kids from their families and gave the S. Korean gov't more incentive to transfer its social welfare responsibilities to Westerners, while focusing their national budget on other things (for ex., 40% was allotted to national defense). 8/
The orphanages worked to ensure the children's assimilation into white, middle-class US life. They ate an American diet, learned to eat with a knife & fork, and most importantly, were raised Christian, studied the Bible, memorized scriptures, and prayed daily. 9/
Thus this forced assimilation was part of an ongoing cultural genocide for the orphans, as products of a war of US imperialism. This transnational adoption project strengthened the paternal, neocolonial relation between US and S. Korea. 10/ 
More info on the institutionalization of Korean adoption in this thread 11/:
