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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Hannah Cho and Asta Kongsted

‘Korea is hiding our past’: the adoptees searching for their families – and the truth

Bokja Hansen holds the uniform from Holt Children’s Services, which she wore when she arrived in Denmark from South Korea aged five.
Bokja Hansen holds the uniform from Holt Children’s Services, which she wore when she arrived in Denmark from South Korea aged five. Photograph: Asta Kongsted

In the summer of 2022, Sussie Pflug Brynald, a Danish citizen, walked through the doors of Holt Children’s Services in Seoul, South Korea, looking for answers about her past. The agency had handled her adoption 49 years earlier when she was, according to Holt, a Korean orphan.

Brynald had brought with her a bottle of Danish liqueur and souvenir shot glasses adorned with Vikings and Danish flags. She had been told that bringing presents to the adoption agency might help her get some of those answers.

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