IKAA to hold global adoptee gathering in Seoul
2023-07-10 - 2023-07-16
Rethinking What’s Possible is the theme of a gathering of the International Korean Adoptee Association, to be held July 10 through 16 in Seoul.

The IKAA Gathering, held every three years, is an international meeting of Korean adoptees from more than 15 countries. Its sessions highlight adoptee stories and facilitate connections and understanding.

The theme Rethinking What’s Possible describes a community looking toward the future as international adoption is approaching a 70-year mark, and Korean adoptee-led organizations have been an global influence on the adoption community for more than 35 years.. Sessions will discuss the grassroots community building, post-adoption services, and advocacy pioneered by adoptee voices.
In addition to fun activities, and newcomer welcome and orientation sessions for newcomers to Seoul, the conference will also feature the Sixth International Symposium on Adoption Studies (IKAS) at which adoption researchers will present recent findings.
The meeting will be held at COEX (now known as the Starfield COEX Mall), a shopping mall, and facility for exhibition halls and convention spaces in one location in Seoul’s Gangnam district. Events will be held at other local venues also.

Early registration is $260 for adults through May 14. See website for further housing and registration information.

Three-day event with conference set to advocate for Korea peace agreement
2023-07-26 - 2023-07-28
To mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice which halted the combat of the Korean War, a three-day event will be held in July in Washington DC to push for a peace agreement to formally end the Korean War.
The event, dubbed Korea Peace Action: National Mobilization to End the Korean War will take place July 26-28, 2023. The organizers include peace activists, humanitarian aid organizations, and groups representing veterans, faith traditions, and Korean American communities.
The activities will include a Congressional media briefing, a community grief ceremony, a rally in front of the White House, and a march to the Korean War Veterans Memorial for an interfaith candlelight vigil.
On Friday, July 28, there will be a conference at George Washington University, entitled “Prospects and Challenges for a Peace Agreement,” featuring a panel with a keynote speech by eminent Korea historian Bruce Cumings on the human costs of unending war.
Registration is required due to space limitations, but there is no fee. For more information: www.koreapeaceaction.org

Korean film retrospective series at Lincoln Center
2023-09-01 - 2023-09-17 | Lincoln Center, 150 West 65th Street, New York, NY, 10023, United States
A retrospective series of Korean films, entitled Korean Cinema’s Golden Decade: The 1960s will be presented from September 1 through 17 at Lincoln Center, New York.
The series features some of the best-known films of the era from many genres: melodramas and period epics to action, horror, war, and giant monster movies. Some of the famous directors whose films will be screened include Sang-ok Shin, Hyun-mok Yu, Soo-yong Kim and Man-hee Lee. These mid-century auteurs popularized and reinvented many of the genres as the nation’s film industry launched in the aftermath of the Korean War.
Tickets are $17 for the general public, and $14 student/senior and $12 members.
For more information, along with a trailer, see the website at the attached link

Korean drumming and dinner event held by KAM Center
2023-09-16 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Chicago) | Korean Service Center, 2417 Larpenteur Avenue West, St. Paul, MN, 55113, United States
The Korean Adoptees Ministry will hold a free Korean cultural event in September with a samulnori performance by Sejong Academy’s Korean drum ensemble, and a Korean dinner.
Jiwhi Eo, the Sejong Academy Upper School music teacher, directs the drum ensemble, and will also teach a class for participants on sogo (a small handheld drum often used for marching or dancing in Korean traditional percussion performances).
The event, to be held Saturday, September 16, 4 to 6 p.m., is family-friendly and targeted to Korean adoptees and their families. Location is the Korean Service Center, 2417 Larpenteur Avenue West, Lauderdale. For planning purposes, please register by emailing KAM Center at: kamcmg21@gmail.com

Buddhist leader and peace activist Pomnyun Sunim to speak
2023-09-19 19:00 - 20:30 | Crystal Community Center, 4800 Douglas Drive N., Crystal, MN, 55429, United States
A free event entitled Casual Conversation with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim will be held at the Crystal Community Center on Tuesday, September 19 at 7 p.m.

Ven. Pomnyun Sunim (“Ven.” is an abbreviation for “venerable” and sunim is the Korean form of address for a monk) is one of the most influential religious leaders in South Korea, a peace activist, and a leader of engaged Buddhism, which applies Buddhist teachings to solving modern issues. He is the recipient of the 2002 Ramon Magsaysay Award and 2020 Niwano Peace Prize.

Pomnyun Sunim is the founder of the Jungto Society, a Buddhist community of practice which began in Korea in 1988, and how has several communities in foreign countries, including three in the U.S.

The talk will be held in a Q&A format, which will allow audience members to ask questions on topics of their choice. The format allows Pomnyun Sunim to answer in a way that helps the questioners shift their perspectives and begin to find their own answers to life’s challenges.

Attendees of this free event must register with an RSVP at the following link: bit.ly/talk919 The Crystal Community Center is located at 4800 Douglas Dr. N., Crystal, MN 55429.

Filmmaker to discuss his project to interview Korean adoptees
2023-10-25 13:00 - 14:30
The filmmaker of the documentary film project Side By Side Glenn Morey, who did a video oral history project about Korean adoptees in the U.S. and Europe “side by side” with adult Korean nationals who grew up in orphanages and were never adopted, will speak as part of an online panel discussion called Reframe and Refresh, by New Day Films. The topic will be “Exploring Global Connections through Korean Adoptees and Living in China.”
The panel will be moderated by Korean adoptee filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem (Geographies of Kinship). In addition to Morey (a Korean adoptee,) 0ther panelists will include Charles Abelman (English Hustle) and Joseph W. Ho, associate professor of history at Albion College.
The event will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, October 25 at 1 p.m. CDT, 2 p.m. EDT. It is free, but RSVP is required at the link.

Chosen documentary film to be screened at Korea Society
2023-11-02 19:00 - 21:00 | Korea Society, 350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor New York, NY 10017, New York, NY, 10023, United States
The documentary Chosen, about five Korean American candidates who ran for Congress in 2020, will be screened at the Korea Society in New York City, on Thursday, November 2, at 7 p.m. EDT. The screening will be followed by a director talk and interview afterward.
The film by Joseph Juhn follows five Korean American candidates who have vastly diverse backgrounds and competing political views as they each navigate their run for the U.S. Congress.
The film focuses on David Kim, an underdog candidate with limited financial resources, who ran for a Congressional seat in one of the poorest districts of Los Angeles during the pandemic. Korean Quarterly interviewed Juhn about his film in 2022 (see this link).
Independent filmmaker/director Joseph Juhn will join the for an audience Q&A session after the film facilitated by Chelsie Alexandre of the Korea Society. This event is free, but a donation of $20 to the filmmaker is encouraged.

Adoptee Hub to hold Self-Care Workshop for Korean adoptee adults
2023-11-04 08:45 - 17:00 | Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, United States
Adoptee Hub will hold a cultural identity and self-care workshop targeted to adult Korean adoptees (age 18 and older) to be held Saturday, November 4.
The all-day event will feature four different sessions. Topics will include: yoga and meditation; massage therapy; the traditional Korean tea ceremony; essential Korean language learning; cooking classes for making kimbap (rice and vegetables rolled in seaweed) and Korea’s national dish, kimchi; self-defense; and informational sessions on birth search and visiting Korea.
There will be breakout rooms (12 people per room), and participants are encouraged to discuss, share experiences, be curious, and build resilience and self-awareness. All discussion is confidential and will be conducted in a safe, nonjudgmental space.
Participants will receive a free t-shirt and other items depending upon the session attended. A continental breakfast and a Korean-inspired lunch are included.

Local playwright Sun Mee Chomet to stage her one-woman play in D.C.
2024-01-04 00:00 - 2024-01-14 00:00 | Theater J, 1529 16th St. NW, Washington, DC, DC, 20036, United States
Twin Cities actor Sun Mee Chomet will perform her one-woman play How to Be a Korean Woman, at Theater J in Washington D.C., from January 4 through 14.

How to Be a Korean Woman is part-commentary and part-satire on the experiences of a Korean American adoptee woman who returns to Korea for the first time, including all the high expectations she has of visiting Korea, and the high expectations that Koreans, particularly other Korean women, have about her. It is also a cautionary tale, told with humor, about making assumptions about others’ cultures and experiences, and a commentary about the complexity of being a Korean adoptee.

Theater J will stage two other one-person plays along with Chomet’s play in a series entitled Here I Am: A Triptych of Tour-de-Force Performances. The other two plays are: Moses, by Michelle Lowe; and See You Tomorrow by Iris Bahr. Chomet was recently interviewed by The Washington Post about the three-play series.

Performance times and costs are varied, please consult the Theater J website for further information.

Theater Mu to host cabaret for Lunar New Year
2024-02-03 19:00 - 21:00 | North Garden Theater, 929 West Seventh Street, St. Paul, MN, 55102, United States
The Twin Cities Asian American theater organization Theater Mu will host a cabaret for Lunar New Year February 3 at the North Garden Theater in St. Paul.
The Theater Mu 2024 Lunar New Year Cabaret is an annual fundraising event. This year’s cabaret will feature lion dancing, live music, comedy and merriment, and some complimentary desserts. Veteran Mu actors and performers who are new to Mu will perform for the show. There are a limited number of VIP tickets that will include a catered, pre-show dinner.
Tickets are available at the link. NOTE: Theater Mu’s “pay as you are” pricing offers modified pricing for those who cannot afford it, to a minimum of $30/ticket; or $60 market value per ticket for general admission (VIP tickets cost $100).

Korean-themed concert to be held at Northwestern University
2024-02-04 14:00 - 18:00 | Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston,, IL, 60208, United States
The Sejong Cultural Society will hold a concert of Korean-themed music on Sunday, February 4 at 2 p.m. with a 4 p.m. reception, at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The concert will be comprised of required pieces used in the Society’s annual music competition.
The Society has commissioned numerous composers to craft pieces with Korean themes, and it has collected more than 150 pieces over the two decades since its founding. The concert is a tribute to the contributions of composers, past competition participants, their teachers and families, and to the supporters of the organization.
The performers are the past winners of the Sejong Music Competition, with two special guests: Kyung Sun Lee, a violin professor at Indiana University, and Sojung Hong, a piano professor at Judson University. The keynote speaker will be David Ludwig, Dean of the Julliard School of Music in New York City.
The Sejong Cultural Society, a non-profit organization in Chicago, fosters awareness and understanding of Korea’s cultural heritage in the U.S. through outreach to youth and young adults through creative and fine arts. It holds musical composition and musical performance contests annually, as well as annual Korean poetry (sijo) classes and competitions, and an annual essay writing contest.
Tickets are $30 (students $10). Location is the Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, Illinois.

Jangmi Arts to hold Seollal Lunar New Year Celebration
2024-02-10 11:00 - 15:00 | White Bear Lake High School South Campus, 3551 McKnight Rd. N., White Bear Lake, MN, 55110, United States
JangMi Arts, a school for Korean dance and drumming in the Twin Cities, will hold its annual Seollal (Lunar New Year) Celebration on Saturday, February 10, with activities from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The celebration will include a Korean traditional marketplace with Korean American organization info tables, a lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with the traditional ddukguk (rice cake soup), served for Lunar New Year in Korea (there is a charge for the lunch). A free performance will take place at 1 p.m. by students of JangMi Arts and students of Lee’s Champion Taekwondo.
The event will take place at White Bear High School South Campus. A ticket link will be added to the JangMi Arts Facebook event listing soon.

HANA Center to celebrate Year of the Blue Dragon
2024-02-10 11:00 - 15:00 | Hana Center, 4300 North California Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60618, United States
HANA Center in Chicago will hold a Lunar New Year celebration for the Year of the Blue Dragon on Saturday, February 10, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the center, located at 4300 N. California Ave.
The event will include a poongmulnori (traditional drumming) performance, with opportunities to try the traditional drums, New Year blessings, an intergenerational saebae (traditional formal bow) during which elders receive bows from the younger generation; games such as yutnori and jaegi-chagi: and a hanbok photo shoot where participants can pose in their traditional hanbok (or other national costume of the participant’s choice).
To register, please see the link: bit.ly/2024HANALNYPartyRSVP and RSVP by February 7.

Free webinar on gendered impact of the Korean War
2024-03-06 18:00 - 19:30
Free webinar on gendered impact of the Korean War
A webinar in observance of International Women’s Day entitled The Gendered Impact of the Korean War; Past, Present and Future will be held Wednesday, March 6 at 6 p.m. (CST). The event will include two feminist scholar-activists: Suzy Kim, professor of Korean history at Rutgers University; and Na-Young Lee, professor at Chung-Ang University (Seoul) and board chair of the Korean Council for the Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.
Kim will provide a historical account of how North Korean and international women intervened during the Korean War. Lee will discuss the impact of the ongoing state of unresolved war on South Korean women, including militarized sexual violence, and efforts underway to hold the South Korean government and U.S. military accountable. Moderator for the event is Ji-Yeon Yuh, a board member at Women Cross DMZ and professor at Northwestern University, Chicago.
The Korean War is considered unresolved because no peace treaty hs been negotiated between the parties in the war. The war is still technically suspended by a 1953 armistice agreement. The result is that U.S. troops are still stationed in South Korea, and South Korean and U.S. troops are engaged in watching the southern border of the DMZ. North Koreans stake out the northern border of the DMZ. War-like incidents that cost human lives have frequently occurred between the troops on the DMZ and in disputed territorial waters off the western coast of North Korea since the armistice was signed
Registration is free and available at the attached link.

Percussionist/composer Jin Hi Kim to play two dates in Minnesota/Wisconsin
2024-03-14 19:30 - 21:30 | Abbot Concert Hall, 420 E Cascade Ave., River Falls, WI, 54022, United States
Korean percussionist and composer Jin Hi Kim will perform an original work, with some local musical help, in two March performances: the first in River Falls, Wisconsin and the second in St. Paul.
The first concert of Kim’s commissioned work Ritual for the Earth 2024 will take place at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF) campus on March 14, 7:30 p.m. The concert will be held at the Abbott Concert Hall, and is free and open to the public. This concert is part of an annual Commissioned Composer event. Kim is this year’s guest commissioned composer and is doing some guest artist lectures and master classes with students.
The concert will include UWRF students playing a variety of instruments, including handmade percussion instruments made from natural materials such as seashells, gourds, bamboo, wood and metal. Members of Shinparam, a Twin Cities-based traditional Korean percussion ensemble, will provide some Korean rhythms that will be woven into the piece.
In addition, Kim’s new commissioned composition, Vocalization in Motion, for chorus and two percussionists, will be world-premiered at the UWRF concert.
More information on this concert and on the composer may be found at the attached link.
The second concert, entitled Living Sounds: Music of Jin Hi Kim will take place at Zeitgeist Studio in downtown St. Paul, on Saturday, March 16, 7 p.m. The concert will include works by Kim, including NORI II for clarinet, saxophone, and two percussionists (saxophonist David Milne as guest artist), and Ritual for the Earth featuring Zeitgeist, Kim, samulnori ensemble Shinparam, and other musicians. Rounding out the program, Zeitgeist and Kim will join forces in an improvisation.
Also featured on the program will be the premiere of a newly-created work, World Sanjo, by Zeitgeist member Pat O’Keefe, with O’Keefe on clarinet and guest artist Peter O’Gorman on drumset.
Kim’s work has been recognized nationally and internationally. She is known as a pioneer for introducing komungo (also spelled geomungo, a large traditional Korean stringed instrument) into the American contemporary music scene. She has also done extensive solo performances on the world’s only electric komungo with live interactive computer programs in several large-scale multimedia performance pieces such as Ghost Komungobot, Digital Buddha, and Touching The Moons.
Kim’s Living Tones compositions have been commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, Festival Nieuwe Muziek for Xenakis Ensemble (The Netherlands), Tan Dun’s New Generation East program for Chamber Music Society for the Lincoln Center, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Meet The Composer U.S. Commission, National Endowment for the Arts and many others.

Jin Hi Kim to perform new music concert at Studio Z in St. Paul
2024-03-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Studio Z, 275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200, St. Paul, MN, 55101, United States
Korean percussionist and composer Jin Hi Kim will perform an original work, with some local musical help, in St. Paul on March 16. The event is the second of two local March performances: the first is at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on March 14.
The concert, entitled Living Sounds: Music of Jin Hi Kim, will take place at Studio Z, located at 275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200 in downtown St. Paul, on Saturday, March 16, 7 p.m. Tickets are $20; $15 for students and seniors, and are available at the linked website.
The concert will include works by Kim, including NORI II for clarinet, saxophone, and two percussionists (saxophonist David Milne as guest artist), and Ritual for the Earth 2024 featuring Kim on several instruments, the Zeitgeist wind and percussion ensemble, samulnori ensemble Shinparam, and other musicians. Rounding out the program, Zeitgeist and Kim will join forces in an improvisation.
Also featured on the program will be the premiere of a newly-created work, World Sanjo, by Zeitgeist member Pat O’Keefe, with O’Keefe on clarinet and guest artist Peter O’Gorman on drumset.
Kim’s work has been recognized nationally and internationally. She is known as a pioneer for introducing komungo (also spelled geomungo, a large traditional Korean stringed instrument) into the American contemporary music scene. She has also done extensive solo performances on the world’s only electric komungo with live interactive computer programs in several large-scale multimedia performance pieces such as Ghost Komungobot, Digital Buddha, and Touching The Moons.
Kim’s Living Tones compositions have been commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, Festival Nieuwe Muziek for Xenakis Ensemble (The Netherlands), Tan Dun’s New Generation East program for Chamber Music Society for the Lincoln Center, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Meet The Composer U.S. Commission, National Endowment for the Arts and many others.
The Zeitgeist ensemble, consisting of percussion, piano and woodwinds, commissions new work and brings guest artists for performances in the Twin Cities. Zeitgeist is working with the University of Wisconsin – River Falls, where Kim is the 2024 guest commissioned composer.

New American Leaders offers women's training program
2024-03-22 - 2024-03-24
A program targeted to Asian American women, called AAPI Women Ready to Lead will be presented March 22 to 24 in Las Vegas by the non-profit organization New American Leaders (NAL).
NAL’s Ready to Lead program is dedicated to preparing first- and second-generation Americans to run and win as candidates for public office and/or have meaningful roles in leading campaigns or in other civic leadership.
The training teaches participants how to embrace their heritage and use it for more effective leadership, and how to employ messaging and fundraising in campaigns. There are 124 alumni of NAL in Nevada, and some have returned to be trainers for the Las Vegas course.
The final application deadline for this training is January 29. An application is at this link. There is a nomination form to nominate someone from your organization at this link.
An information session about this training is at a video recorded January 16 at this link. The passcode is: =Xi70#Qc. In April, NAL will host a second program for participants who identify as new Americans. The program fee is $150 (excluding travel costs) and scholarships are available.
For questions or additional information about location, costs and other details, contact Lorenzita Santos, program manager at New American Leaders, at: lorenzita@newamericanleaders.org.

Korean modern art exhibit upcoming at MIA
2024-03-23 - 2024-06-23 | Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis, 55404, United States
The Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) announced today a new exhibition of contemporary Korean art to be exhibited at the museum’s Target Galleries March 23 through June 23. The exhibit is entitled The Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989, and organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Tickets are $20, with additional discounts for MIA members.
Using a variety of mediums, including ceramics, painting, fiber, photography, lacquer, installation, metalwork, mixed media, embroidery, and video, these artists explore themes like conformity, displacement, gender and sexuality, coexistence, dissonance, that together offer a deeper understanding of South Korea, and its history and culture.
One of the continuing themes, dissonance, is in some of the artists’ reflections on South Korea’s past and present, the foundations of Korean society, and the paradoxes of a divided Korea. Dissonance is shown in works such as Hayoun Kwon’s video 489 years (2016). The viewer occupies the role of a soldier on a day-long patrol of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), a strip of land separating North and South Korea along the 38th parallel. The work’s title, 489 Years, references the number of years experts think it would take to clear the one million mines within the boundary between the two Koreas. The video depicts a lush, green area filled with wildlife, with the destructive potential of the area hidden.
The theme of reinvention is reflected in some of the artists’ use of traditional art forms, with ancient aesthetics combined with contemporary sensibility. For example, Suki Seokyeong Kang’s vibrantly woven mats are inspired by a handcrafted straw mat tradition dating back to the Goryeo Dynasty (918–1392).
Artists also reflect the theme of coexistence, and imbue Korean values with new meaning. Eui-jeong Yoo’s Treasures of Daily Life (2018) expresses this fusion of ideas in his series of recognizable corporate logos for companies such as McDonald’s, Louis Vuitton, and Hello Kitty.
The theme of “being seen,” challenging patriarchal power structures and cultural standards, is expressed through works depicting experiences that are frequently marginalized, silenced, or erased in popular culture. An Attack by Green Horns, by Sang-hee Yun, is a pair of lacquered and gold dagger-like spikes worn on the front torso and back shoulder. Yun created these spikes to express a sense of protection for the wearer.
The works in the section on “portraying anxiety” raise questions about group participation and larger societal challenges in Korea and elsewhere. In the video Let’s Do National Gymnastics, Jaewoo Oh fuses nostalgia and the impact of a culture of conformity by portraying a compulsory exercise program for students, used in Korean public schools between 1977 and 1999.
Works from MIA’s permanent collection will be added to the exhibition in Minneapolis, including Do Ho Suh’s Some/One, a 2005 sculpture based on a coat of traditional armor. Composed from thousands of polished military dog tags, the work juxtaposes the collective (represented by the armored sculpture) with the individual (symbolized by the dog tags, each representing a single soldier). Also featured is a selection from Byron Kim’s ongoing Synecdoche portraiture project, currently comprised of more than 400 panels, each approximating the skin color of a person Kim has met.

Korean adoptee comic tells his multi-media homeland trip story in Minneapolis
2024-03-23 15:30 - 16:40 | Bryant Lake Bowl and Theater, 810 West Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN, 55408, United States
Edward Yoo Pokropski will present his solo show Case 84: Adopted in the USA describing his return to Korea in 2015 at age 32 to discover his origins as a Korean adoptee. The show is a one-time appearance in Minneapolis, sponsored by AK Connection, an organization by and about adult Korean adoptees.
Case 84: Adopted in the USA uses comedy to explore how the media shapes many misconceptions about adoption. The show uses compelling visuals from pop culture and personal pictures from the artist’s trip to Korea. The content of the presentation is a journey through one adoptee’s life, from childhood to present day.
Prokropski is an executive producer of Asian Comedy Fest, the longest-running all-Asian comedy fest in the country. He is also an Emmy-nominated writer/producer at NBCUniversal.
Doors open at 2 p.m. Bryant Lake Bowl has a full menu, and food can be served in the theater.

Mu Films and Me & Korea to host Koreans and Camptowns conference
2024-04-13 08:30 - 2024-04-14 13:00 | Northwestern University, 633 Clark Street, Evanston, IL, 60208, United States
A conference entitled Korean Adoption and Its Global Legacies: 70 Years and Beyond will be held at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois, April 13–14. The Korean adoptee service organization Me & Korea will co-sponsor the conference, along with Northwestern University and Mu Films, a documentary film company established by Deann Borshay Liem, a Korean adoptee.
The goal of the conference is to bring adoptees, first families, journalists and scholars together to discuss the origins of Korean adoption and its impact on families and individuals, including discussion of birth family search and reunion. The event is in honor of the late Korean adoption researcher Sue-Je Lee Gage.
The conference is intended to provide perspectives that challenge and expand participants’ understanding of adoption’s beginnings in the context of war and militarism, while exploring present-day consequences of South Korea’s adoption practices on adopted Koreans and their first families.
A gathering of alumni of Me & Korea’s many adoptee tours to Korea will be held on the evening of April 12, more details to be released closer to the date.
The keynote address will be by Yuri Doolan, assistant professor of history and sexuality studies at Brandeis University. He will discuss his new book, The First Amerasians: Mixed Race Koreans From Camptowns to America which relates how the concept of the Amerasian was used to remove thousands of mixed-race children from their Korean mothers in U.S.-occupied South Korea to adoptive American homes during the 1950s and ‘60s.
Speakers scheduled for this conference include Kori Graves, Associate Professor of History, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY) will discuss her book A War Born Family: African American Adoption in the Wake of the Korean War. This talk will describe how during and immediately after the Korean War African American soldiers in Korea and African Americans in the states learned about and then endeavored to adopt Korean children and the ways their efforts fit in the larger history of Korean transnational adoption.
Catherine H. Nguyen, who teaches Asian literature at Emerson College will discuss themes of her work-in-progress book Children Born of War, Adoptees Made by War, about Vietnamese mixed-race children who were transnationally adopted during and after the Vietnam War. Patti Duncan, a professor from Oregon State University will discuss how war and militarism in South Korea affected her as a mixed-race Korean American woman.
Veteran Korean photographer and journalist, Yongnam Lee, will present his career-spanning work which documents the people living and working in U.S. military camptowns near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Through his photography and videography, Lee will discuss the Korean women who worked in “comfort stations” for American troops, and the lawsuit they brought that led to a South Korean Supreme Court victory in 2022.
The Sunday panels will focus on the long arc of Korean adoption and its impacts through the lens of birth family search.
The conference registration is free, with the option to purchase lunch and dinner in advance. For more details, and to register, visit https://kadconference2024.eventbrite.com/

For further information or questions, email: conference@meandkorea.org

Taiko artist and teacher Jennifer Weir to speak at Adoptee Hub event
2024-04-27 15:30 - 20:30 | Roseville Center Ice Arena, 2661 Civic Center Drive, Roseville, MN, 55113, United States
The organizer of a global women taiko drummers event in the Twin Cities is the featured speaker at the Adoptee Hub annual gala and fundraiser. The event will take place Saturday, April 27 in Roseville.
Korean adoptee Jennifer Weir, who created the project and is the founder of her own taiko school, Taiko Arts Midwest, will discuss her upbringing and her diverse career as an actor, producer, and drummer.
The convergence of women taiko artists from many countries in February 2022 was the first of its kind in history, and was captured in the documentary film Finding Her Beat, co-directed by Dawn Mikkelson (producer, director) and Keri Piekett (director of photography, editor). The film will be screened at the event.
Weir is also the artistic director of Ensō Daiko and a performing member of the taiko group Ensemble-MA, led by Iris Shiraishi. Weir is also a theater director and dramaturg with Theater Mu, and a past recipient of grants for composing, producing and performing new music.
Weir was brought up in North Dakota, and had no references during her upbringing to Asian American culture, community or identity. As a young adult in Minneapolis, she found her way to the Asian American theater organization Theater Mu and its taiko performance group Mu Daiko (now Enso Daiko).
Weir writes in her bio that “Taiko allows me to become a bigger, better version of myself. It integrates my mind, body and spirit. It allows me to embody strength, grace, and to claim and celebrate my ‘Asian-ness.’ ”
Adoptee Hub is a Twin Cities service and advocacy organization for and about adult Korean adoptees. It offers regular events and facilitates services for adult adoptees to assist in travel to Korea, translation and birth parent searches. Tickets are $25 until April 1, $35 April 1-26 and and $45 on the day of the event. In-person attendees of any other Adoptee Hub event in March and April can purchase Gala tickets for $25.

Korean and Korean American composers featured in East Meets West concerts
2024-05-03 20:30 - 21:30 | University Lutheran Church of Hope, 601 13th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, United States
A selection of works from Korean and Korean American composers will be featured during May in four performances in Minneapolis and St. Paul entitled East Meets West.
The concert will be presented at four venues in May: University Lutheran Church of Hope, Minneapolis, on Friday, May 3 at 7 p.m.; MacPhail Center for Music, (Gary Sipes Hall), Minneapolis, Saturday May 4 at 2 p.m.; Hamline United Methodist Church, St. Paul, Friday, May 10 at 7 p.m.; and Metronome Brewery, St. Paul, Saturday, May 11 at 2 p.m.
Admission to all the concerts is free, with suggested donations. The concert is made possible with a grant through Metropolitan Regional Arts Council through a grant from the state Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
The concert, presented by the ensemble 10th Wave Chamber Music Collective, will include musicians playing Western instruments, and gayageum (a Korean traditional stringed instrument), with voice performers. Performers in this concert include: Angela Cabrera, percussion; Eun Cho, flute; Weily Grina-Shay, clarinet; April Kim, piano; Soomin Kim, voice; Soojin Lee, gayageum; Ruth Marshall, cello; Ashely Ng, violin; and Mikyoung Park, voice.

Korean and Korean American composers featured in East Meets West concerts
2024-05-04 14:00 - 15:30 | Hamline United Methodist Church, 1514 Englewood Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55104, United States

Korean and Korean American composers featured in East Meets West concerts
2024-05-11 14:00 - 15:30 | Metronome Brewery, 385 Broadway, St. Paul, MN, 55101, United States

Classes in Korean traditional needlecraft jogakbo to be held
2024-06-22 12:00 - 16:00 | Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis, 55404, United States
Minneapolis-based textile artist Jae Hyun Veenstra is offering a series of free classes in the traditional art of jogakbo, a Korean hand-sewing patchwork craft used since ancient times to make wrapping cloths and traditional crafts. In modern times, jogakbo has become a recognized art form and can be used to make innovative designs.
The series, entitled Colorful Korean: Re-Rooting with Jogakbo, is funded with a grant, and targeted to Korean adoptees and their family members, age 16 and older. Enrollees will be referred to a Facebook group to stay in touch during and beyond the class.
Each of the series of four classes will introduce a new craft project. Classes are free and include all the supplies. Enrollees may sign up for one or more of the four-hour classes.
The dates, locations and project types are:
June 22, noon to 4 p.m.: guebul noligae (an accessory intended to protect the wearer) and how it is depicted in the film Spirits’ Homecoming – class to be held at Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA), Minneapolis.
June 29, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Making a yedanbo (a textile envelope, used for a formal letter, typically an offer of marriage) – class to be held at the Textile Center, St. Paul.
July 20, noon to 4 p.m.: Making mini beoseon (traditional socks) at Minneapolis Central Library.
July 27, noon to 4 p.m.: catch-up class and instruction on hyangnang (decorative pouch) – to be held at MIA or Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, final location to be determined. Catch-up class is recommended for participants who have incomplete projects at that time.
An exhibit of the participants’ work will be held after the series has been completed.
Registration is required; there is also a waiting list if classes are full. Registration is at this link.
To volunteer to prepare, clean up and do other tasks on class day, please sign up at this link.
The artist maintains an Instagram account at this link: https://www.instagram.com/colorfulkoreaproject

Classes in jogakbo, a Korean needlecraft, to be offered
2024-06-29 11:00 - 15:00 | Textile Center, 3000 University Avenue SW, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, United States
Minneapolis-based textile artist Jae Hyun Veenstra is offering a series of free classes in the traditional art of jogakbo, a Korean hand-sewing patchwork craft used since ancient times to make wrapping cloths and traditional crafts. In modern times, jogakbo has become a recognized art form and can be used to make innovative designs.
The series, entitled Colorful Korean: Re-Rooting with Jogakbo, is funded with a grant, and targeted to Korean adoptees and their family members, age 16 and older. Enrollees will be referred to a Facebook group to stay in touch during and beyond the class.
Each of the series of four classes will introduce a new craft project. Classes are free and include all the supplies. Enrollees may sign up for one or more of the four-hour classes.
The dates, locations and project types are:
June 22, noon to 4 p.m.: guebul noligae (an accessory intended to protect the wearer) and how it is depicted in the film Spirits’ Homecoming – class to be held at Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA), Minneapolis.
June 29, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Making a yedanbo (a textile envelope, used for a formal letter, typically an offer of marriage) – class to be held at the Textile Center, Minneapolis.
July 20, noon to 4 p.m.: Making mini beoseon (traditional socks) at Minneapolis Central Library.
July 27, noon to 4 p.m.: catch-up class and instruction on hyangnang (decorative pouch) – to be held at MIA or Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, final location to be determined. Catch-up class is recommended for participants who have incomplete projects at that time.
An exhibit of the participants’ work will be held after the series has been completed.
Registration is required; there is also a waiting list if classes are full. Registration is at this link.
To volunteer to prepare, clean up and do other tasks on class day, please sign up at this link.
The artist maintains an Instagram account at this link: https://www.instagram.com/colorfulkoreaproject

AAPI voting summit to be held in Philadelphia
2024-07-11 - 2024-07-12 | Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown, 201 North 17th St., Philadelphia, 19103, United States
A National AAPI Leadership Summit will be held July 11-12, 2024 in Philadelphia to learn about emerging voting issues and how to mobilize the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
The event, to take place at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown, is a platform for partner organizations, issue experts, and communities from across the country. The purpose is to empower Asian American and Pacific Islander AAPI communities to make their voices heard during a historic election year.
Information about specific workshops and speakers will be available in the months leading up to the event. Registration will be $40 for general admission and $20 for students.
The Summit is sponsored by Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) the nation’s leading nonpartisan non-profit organization dedicated to engaging, educating, and empowering (AAPI) communities to strengthen and sustain a culture of civic engagement. It advocates for policies that protect the freedom to vote, increases equity for communities of color and guards against discriminatory practices.
The Summit will culminate Saturday, July 13 with a Presidential Town Hall at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Presidential candidates will have time to directly address AAPI community members, leaders, and organizers about the issues important to this growing electorate.
For more information on our Summit and Presidential Town Hall, please visit the APIAVote website. Prospective attendees are requested to please fill out the survey, so that APIAVote can be in contact to send the official registration link.
Please direct questions to admin@apiavote.org.

U of Minnesota conference offers one-day event on adoption as a life experience
2024-07-12 08:00 - 16:00 | Northrop Auditorium, 84 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, United States
Two Korean adoptee experts on adult adoptees’ issues will join a group of experts in a day-long symposium on the challenges faced by adoptees face at every stage of adulthood.
This symposium is part of a four-day event, the 8th International Conference on Adoption Research (ICAR-8). The symposium will be held July 12, 9 a.m.to 4 p.m. (doors open at 8 a.m. for continental breakfast) in the Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.
Lifelong Issues in Adoption: Reframing the Discourse through Lived Experience is the title of the one-day symposium. The symposium was organized by adoptees, and all of the speakers/artists are adopted persons. Admission is $75 and includes a full day of lectures, panel discussions, music, and audience participation. Continental breakfast, a morning coffee break, and a box lunch will also be provided. Information and tickets are available on the Northrop Auditorium website.
The two Korean adoptee speakers are Hollee A. McGinnis and HeeWon Lee. McGinnis is a Ph.D. social worker, researcher, and a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work. She has achieved a 30-year career in a community organizing, adoptee empowerment, and adoption policy and research.
In 1996, she founded Also-Known-As, which is still an active organization of adult intercountry adoptees in New York City. McGinnis will speak on her own research project, Mapping the Life Course of Adoption (MAP): Health, Well-Being, and Adoptee Connections in Adulthood. In 2023, KQ reported on the information-gathering phase of this research project here.
Heewon Lee is an assistant professor and the assistant program director of the genetic counseling graduate program at the University of Minnesota. She also works with the National Institute of Health (NIH) Coordinating Committee for Practitioner Education in Genomics and other groups of research professionals concerned with genomics and genetic testing. She will speak on the topic: Invisible Families: How Adoptees Use Genetic Testing.
Another Minnesota adoptee speaker is Shannon Gibney, a writer, educator, activist, and the author of the young adult novels See No Color (2015) and Dream Country (2018) that won Minnesota Book Awards in 2016 and 2019. Gibney teaches writing at Minneapolis College, and was recently selected as one of three Educators of the Year in the Minnesota State College and University system. Her new novel, The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be (2023), explores themes of transracial adoption. Her speech is entitled: The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: Exploring themes of transracial adoption through speculative memoir.
The ICAR-8 website has more detailed information on continuing education credits offered for various disciplines and certifications, and a brief summary of speakers, bios and topics for the other three days of the conference.

Textile artist to offer classes in Korean needlecraft art jogakbo for Korean adoptees
2024-07-20 12:00 - 16:00 | Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55414, United States

Korean Language Village to open new buildings at its northern Minnesota campus
2024-07-20 12:00 - 16:00
The Korean Language Village, one of the Concordia Language Villages in northern Minnesota will officially open its two new Korea-themed buildings with a grand opening ceremony and tour on July 20.
The event, to be held at the camp (Sup Sogui Hosu), located on Turtle River Lake near Bemidji, will recognize the supporters of the language immersion camp over the 25 years since it was established. Beginning at noon on Saturday, July 20, participants will have a tour of the new buildings, Korean food booths, and a dedication ceremony, followed by a reception.
The first phase of the building project was funded with a $5 million gift from Kenny and Simone Park, of the South Korean company, the Simone Corporation. It includes an administrative complex, dining hall with a commercial kitchen, two camper cabins, a soccer field and waterfront development. Other residential buildings and space for traditional music and martial arts learning are included in the second phase of the new campus development.
The day’s events are open to the public, but reservations are requested. Please RSVP by July 8 with names of guests to Renée Duval at rduval@cord.edu.
More information about the Korean Language Village capital project is at this link.
