How The Press Can Misconstrue History Through Omission or Elision.

Posted to Paperslip on August 27th, 2025.

Above — Screenshot of a recent article AP article by Tong-hyung Kim about another Korean Adoptee’s case, from August 27th, 2025.

Above — Screenshot of a different, earlier AP article by Tong-hyung Kim.

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There’s something misleading in the way AP reporter Tong-hyung Kim presents the topic of adoption in his recent article series that goes to a larger pattern in his reporting on the topic. Specifically, he implies—or at least allows readers to infer—that the FRONTLINE documentary South Korea’s Adoption Reckoning and the related AP article series were the catalysts for South Korea’s Second Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC 2) Investigation into Overseas Adoption. In reality, that wasn’t at all the case. The wording used creates an impression that may mislead readers into believing the documentary or articles initiated the TRC 2 investigation (see screenshot above).

Prior to the 2024 FRONTLINE/AP documentary and its accompanying articles, Tong-hyung Kim had only covered Korean Adoption in the context of the Brothers Home case—he was not a prominent figure in broader reporting on Korean Adoption. However, in his recent work, Tong-hyung Kim’s language misleadingly suggests that his reporting has played a central role in driving the movement, prior to TRC 2. This is not the truth.

For clarity, here is a timeline about events related to S. Korea’s TRC 2 Investigation into Overseas Adoption:

December 10th, 2020: The TRC 2 is established, primarily to investigate S. Korea’s major concentration camps, including Brother’s Home and Seongam Academy.

December 18th, 2020: I informally submitted the first cases to the head of the TRC unofficially through a contact.

January 2021: I emailed AP reporter Tong-Hyung Kim to request that he write a story about a specific form of systemic falsification, which he agreed to do.

April or May 2022: DKRG formed in Denmark.

September 11th, 2022: First deadline for Overseas Adoption cases to be submitted to the TRC 2.

December 9th, 2022: The TRC 2 Investigation into Overseas Adoption began.

September 20th, 2024: The FRONTLINE documentary “South Korea’s Adoption Reckoning” was released, and related AP articles began to be released.

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As the timeline above makes clear, the TRC 2 investigation was already well underway before the FRONTLINE / AP articles were published in Fall 2024.

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Ironically, had Tong-hyung Kim published the story about my case in 2021 or 2022—as I initially expected—he might have been able to credibly claim a role in laying the groundwork for TRC 2’s inquiry into Overseas Adoption. Instead, he delayed publication until October 14th, 2024.

The AP story about my case should never have taken so long to be published.
I watched as Tong-hyung Kim published numerous other articles overnight, while the story about my case languished. Meanwhile, SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System) aired a major documentary about my story on December 24th, 2022, marking the first public exposure of systemic switching within Korean Adoption anywhere in the world. Yet Tong-hyung Kim made no mention of this landmark broadcast in his October 14th, 2024, article about my case.

Over the more than three years I waited for the story about my case to be published, I stayed in regular contact with Tong-hyung Kim, sharing increasing amounts of information and connections in the belief that these would support a deeper investigation into the broader circumstances surrounding my story. But after years of anticipation, the AP article about my case that finally emerged included no meaningful investigation—something I had long expected and hoped for. Instead, it largely echoed, in darker tones, what SBS had already reported. While I was relieved that the article finally came out, I was frankly disappointed that it contained nothing new.

In hindsight, I feel I was strung along—caught up in Tong-hyung Kim’s evolving vision for what ultimately became the expansive FRONTLINE/AP project. I wasn’t aware of this shift in direction until June 2023. Despite my early and ongoing contributions to the topic, and my referral of multiple Adoptees to both Tong-hyung Kim and FRONTLINE director Lora Moftah, I received no meaningful recognition in the final FRONTLINE/AP documentary. Although my story was featured in an AP article and interactive, viewers of the documentary would have had no idea I was involved—my role was entirely erased (save for a literal one second appearance in the beginning).

After years of waiting for him to publish the story about my case, Tong-hyung Kim reached out to me in June 2023 to discuss the possibility of a film, explaining that FRONTLINE and the Associated Press often collaborate on documentaries when major stories are in development. He asked if I would be open to being filmed, and I readily agreed. Filming began that same month at my studio in Seattle, with director Lora Moftah flying in from New York and Tong-hyung Kim traveling from S. Korea. I had only recently moved into the studio, and worked feverishly to prepare to make it ready for filming. We later continued production in S. Korea, traveling there separately. I connected Lora Moftah to the organizers of a major Korean Adoptee conference in Seoul, where further filming commenced. I introduced several of the Adoptees who ultimately were featured in the final documentary to Tong-hyung Kim and Lora Moftah at the conference’s Newcomer’s Event. All of the Adoptees seen at the beginning of the FRONTLINE documentary are those whom I ushered over to be filmed during the event.

Ultimately, my story was entirely cut from the FRONTLINE documentary, and I received no credit for my contributions. This is despite the fact that many of the central interview subjects were my direct referrals. Without my involvement, the documentary would have lacked much of its core material. Moreover, a key topic prominently featured—switching—was one I first brought to Tong-hyung Kim’s attention as a systemic issue in January 2021. At the time, he had not written anything on the issue. Additionally, Director Lora Moftah, who is neither Korean nor an Adoptee, was unfamiliar with the subject of Korean Adoption prior to being tapped to direct the documentary. Many of the individuals featured—and much of the documentary’s core subject matter—originated from my research, referrals, and contributions.

In fact, this collaboration began much earlier. In January 2021, I approached Tong-hyung Kim with a proposal to investigate a specific form of systemic falsification. That initial conversation marked the beginning of what would eventually evolve into both the FRONTLINE documentary and the AP series of articles.

In his
acceptance of the Best of AP award for his reporting on my story, Tong-hyung Kim’s own words corroborate the fact that my case was a catalyst for what eventually became the FRONTLINE documentary and related article series:

“They met in person months later and Kim accompanied (her) on a visit to her adoption agency in Seoul. There, after spending hours but failing to find (her) real file, an adoption worker made a startling admission that child switching had been a common practice at adoption agencies during the adoption rush of the 1970s and '80s, and that birthed Kim’s years-long obsession with reporting on adoption fraud out of Korea.”

Yet, despite this acknowledgment, FRONTLINE, which prominently featured Tong-hyung Kim as both reporter and protagonist, failed to credit me in any way in the documentary, despite the central role I played in bringing important themes it prominently featured to the attention of Tong-hyung Kim and Lora Moftah. Without that recognition, viewers had no way of connecting my personal investigation with the broader narrative presented by FRONTLINE and the AP—a narrative shaped in no small part by my years of communication with Tong-hyung Kim and the many Adoptee referrals I provided him over time.

I believe Tong-hyung Kim’s reporting highlights an important and often overlooked issue. However, just as FRONTLINE and the AP failed to credit my contributions to the documentary—despite director Lora Moftah privately acknowledging that the entire FRONTLINE team was “amazed” by the way I had investigated my case, noting that my 'handprints were all over the documentary' and even exclaiming during filming in Korea, 'You’re the driver!'—it is equally troubling to see the origins of the TRC 2 movement misrepresented in the AP’s coverage.

Over the years, I referred dozens of Adoptees to Tong-hyung Kim—many of whom later appeared in the documentary and related articles. Despite his central role in the project, Tong-hyung Kim failed to ensure that my foundational contributions were properly acknowledged. I never imagined that after years of sharing my story with this AP journalist, my contributions would be put “on background” in a documentary a central theme of which—switching—I had moved mountains to help bring to public light. Had I received even a single line of credit, I wouldn’t be writing this article today. Yet, that small acknowledgment was apparently too much for FRONTLINE and AP to consider granting in the documentary. Perhaps they ran out of digital letters for the words “Thank You” on the day they put together the credits.

Notably, Tong-hyung Kim has never offered an apology or provided any explanation for the omission of credit for my contributions to the FRONTLINE/AP documentary. During a Zoom call with Adoptees following the documentary’s release, an attendee asked him how he came to investigate the topic of Korean Adoption. He simply responded that he “just began to pull on a string,” offering no further context or acknowledgment.

This reflects a broader and persistent issue in media: the erasure or distortion of the origins and evolution of grassroots movements. When journalists claim to be uncovering the truth, they carry an even greater responsibility to tell the whole truth—with accuracy, integrity, and respect for those who have helped shape the story.

Ultimately, with respect to the FRONTLINE documentary if not to the related articles, Tong-hyung Kim and Lora Moftah
stooped to the same level DKRG did — pushing me out of the documentary narrative so as to claim complete credit.

It's telling—and somewhat amusing—that Tong-hyung Kim no longer links to the article about my case in his recent reporting. This seems like a reaction to my criticism of the FRONTLINE documentary’s failure to credit my work. But withholding acknowledgment is hardly the same as accountability; it's a deflection. That energy would be better spent on properly crediting sources—especially in high-profile reporting like major documentaries.

The Peabody and Emmy Awards are known for recognizing integrity. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the FRONTLINE documentary did not win either award.