«Take care of yourself son, your mom loves you» is a personal journey in time and a photographic exploration of family relations, adoption, connections between myself as an adopted child, and the search for my biological mother.
South Korean adoption began in 1953 as a consequence of the Korean War. As of today over 200 000 people have been adopted from South Korea, reaching its heights in the late 70s going into the 80s. Unlike the period following the Korean War when most adopted children were abandoned orphans, the majority of children sent for adoption during this period were born into the proletarian life of unmarried women. In 1985 over 8700 babies from South Korea were adopted with an average of 24 babies having left the country every day.
To this day, single mothers and children out of wedlock are still
stigmatized in Korean society. If you become pregnant in South Korea and the man wants nothing to do with you, life can become very difficult. Many choose to give up their own child, because they know that a mother without a husband can get frozen out from family and friends. Having children in South Korea is extremely expensive, It’s a saying that if you have more than one, you are either rich or stupid. As a single mother with a child you are in great danger of being financially ruined.

I came to Norway in 1994 and I have often felt different. This has reinforced the feeling of being adopted, which in terms created an urge to understand my Korean history.
During my life I have from time to time gone through an identity crisis and asked myself who I am. I’ve spent a lot of time throughout my life being angry and blaming my biological mother. The last few years I have turned the disparate feeling of dissociation into an inconceivable search for resolve. I’ve been traveling around South Korea to get an understanding of how life has been from the perspective of my biological mother.
I’ve always dreamt of our first meeting and I don’t know if I’d ever get the opportunity. I believe she’s the only one who can answer for my lost memories of a life to which I am so involuntarily attached.