Yonhap News Agency: “A Life Turned Upside Down for 50 Years… Adopted After Being Switched With a Deceased Orphan.”
Paperslip Note:
I apologize for not sharing this article when it was first published on July 2nd, 2026 by Yonhap News Agency. I have known of the article since that time, but unfortunately got sidetracked.
Thank you to GOAL for mentioning my years long research into Systemic Switching to the reporter of the article.
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Yonhap News Agency Article:
“A Life Turned Upside Down for 50 Years… Adopted After Being Switched With a Deceased Orphan.”
Original Korean article published by Yonhap News Agency on July 2nd, 2026.
ChatGPT English translation posted to Paperslip on September 27th, 2026.
BOLDS and blue highlighting ours.
Please see original Korean article for photos.
Please note that I have added some text for clarity.
“A Life Turned Upside Down for 50 Years… Adopted After Being Switched With a Deceased Orphan”
Published: July 2, 2026, 10:52 a.m.
Three-line summary
Danish (KSS) adoptee Jin Bok-sun discovered while reviewing her records that her identity had been switched with that of a deceased child.
She obtained information about her biological family through the National Center for the Rights of the Child (NCRC).
“I want to return to Korea in November to look for my roots.”
“Jin Bok-sun, a Korean adoptee in Denmark, lived under the name ‘Ahn Sook-hee’ for more than 50 years
SEOUL (Yonhap) — On July 1, Danish adoptee Jin Bok-sun told Yonhap News Agency in an interview, “I agreed to this interview because I want this to be corrected so that something like this does not happen again.”
Jin Bok-sun (54), who lived for more than 50 years under the name “Ahn Sook-hee” and is known in Denmark as Tina Viborg, said in the interview that she had learned for the first time during her current visit to her birth country, through the National Center for the Rights of the Child (NCRC), that “Ahn Sook-hee was actually a child who had already died at the time of my adoption, and that my real name was Jin Bok-sun.”
She was born in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, in February 1972 and was adopted to Denmark through the Korea Social Service (KSS) on August 1 of the following year. This visit to Korea is her first in 33 years, following her initial visit in 1993.
Jin Bok-sun as a child after her adoption
[Provided by Jin Bok-sun]
Invited (for one of their annual homeland tours for Korean Adoptees in 2026) by GOAL, whose Secretary-General (SG) is (Swedish Korean Adoptee) Louise Lindberg, Jin visited her birth country on June 28. On June 29, while reviewing her adoption records at the NCRC, she discovered that her identity had been switched.
Moreover, documents obtained by Yonhap confirmed that she had been classified as an “orphan” even though her parents were in fact alive.
In 1973, while the Korea Social Service was processing her overseas adoption, her identity was changed to that of Ahn Sook-hee, a deceased orphan, and she was adopted to Denmark under that identity.
One expert pointed out, “Because the adoption process for orphans was not complicated, administrative processing could be expedited,” adding, “This is suspected to have been more than a simple mistake and quite possibly intentional.” (Paperslip Note: Systemic Switching has now been acknowledged by TRC 2 as a human rights violation in its March 26th, 2025 Interim Report. However, solutions for this issue have NOT been adequately addressed by the TRC. I personally only know of a few switched Adoptees who have ever found their real birth family).
Similar cases have reportedly been identified not only at KSS but also at other adoption agencies. American researcher Rebecca Kimmel is known to have conducted extensive research into this issue.
Jin Bok-sun (second from left) with her adoptive parents
[Provided by Jin Bok-sun]
Jin said, “When I first learned the truth, I was deeply shocked. I was heartbroken and bewildered,” but added, “I’m not angry.”
Although she acknowledged that the events took place 50 years ago, when society was very different from today, she said it was nevertheless “something that should never have happened.” She also expressed her gratitude to the NCRC for helping her recover her original name.
The documents contain the names of her biological parents, but under Korea’s Personal Information Protection Act, even Jin herself cannot directly access that information. The NCRC plans to contact her biological family once their addresses and other contact information have been identified.
The records also contain the names and dates of birth of two older brothers and an older sister. They include a letter stating that her biological father decided to place her for adoption because of financial difficulties and health problems, including a stroke.
On June 30, Jin began searching for her biological parents by visiting the Seongnam Police Station and a local community service center and distributing flyers. She is scheduled to leave Korea on July 7, but plans to return in November to examine the documents carefully and make plans to search for her family and reconnect with her roots.
Jin’s adoptive parents in Denmark were a conservative, traditional farming family, and she says they raised her with love. However, she recalls that they had little awareness of adoption-related trauma and therefore were unable to fully provide the emotional support she needed as she struggled with questions of identity.
Jin Bok-sun with Louise Lindberg, secretary-general of GOAL.
SEOUL (Yonhap) — On July 1, Danish adoptee Jin Bok-sun (right) explains the adoption process to Louis Lindberg, secretary-general of GOAL. July 1, 2026.
[Photo by reporter Park Hyun-soo / Yonhap News Agency]
Her adoptive father died 11 years ago, while her adoptive mother remains in Denmark and has been supportive of this trip. Her husband, a photographer, is a strong source of support.
Jin is a civil servant working for a Danish government-affiliated institution, where she supports university students. She has three children: a 19-year-old son, a 17-year-old daughter, and a 15-year-old son.
During her first visit to Korea in 1993, she visited the YWCA and KSS and reviewed her records. However, there was no systematic family-search support program like the one available today, and she was unsuccessful in finding her family.
When asked what she would like to say if she meets her biological parents, she said, “First, I want to thank them,” adding, “I also want them to know that I grew up happily and was well cared for in Denmark.”
She continued, “I also have a longing to learn about Korean culture and reconnect with my roots.”’