Why Were So Many Korean Adoptees Adopted To Minnesota? 

Posted to Paperslip on January 30th, 2026.

With all of the recent insanity happening in Minnesota, of course we have been thinking a lot about the large number of Korean Adoptees there. This has particular resonance for us as KSS Adoptees, since one of KSS’ first partnerships was with Lutheran Social Services (LSS) of Minnesota. Our original KSS K-Number research, begun in 2020, previously revealed that KSS uniquely encoded KSS K-Numbers with the first digit “2” to stand for “LSS”. We have been inspired by the massive activism in Minnesota, and this got us wondering a “twin” question — first, why were so many Korean Adoptees sent to Minnesota, and second, does the current spirit of activism in Minnesota have anything to do with it? We turned to ChatGPT to do a little digging. Of course, please take anything from ChatGPT with a grain of salt, but its response largely comports with what we know of the connection between Korea and Minnesota from the Korean War forward.

We asked ChatGPT:
Why were so many Korean Adoptees adopted to Minnesota?

ChatGPT’s response:
”Short answer: networks + timing + churches + snowball effects. Minnesota didn’t start with the most Korean adoptees by accident—it became one because early conditions reinforced each other over decades.

Here’s the fuller picture:

1. Post-Korean War adoption boom

After the Korean War (1950–53), South Korea had a large number of displaced and mixed-race children. The U.S. became the primary destination for international adoption from Korea starting in the mid-1950s.

2. Minnesota already had a strong adoption infrastructure

Minnesota had:

  • Well-organized Lutheran and other Protestant churches

  • Social service agencies comfortable with international adoption

  • A political and religious culture that emphasized charity, family stability, and overseas aid

Church groups often sponsored adoptions and helped families navigate the process.

3. One key agency mattered a lot

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS) became one of the most active agencies placing Korean children. Once an agency builds expertise, it naturally places more children in the same region.

This created momentum: more placements → more experience → more placements.

4. Chain migration… but for adoption

As Korean adoptees grew up in Minnesota:

  • Families told other families adoption was “normal” and supported

  • Prospective adoptive parents saw adoptees thriving locally

  • Schools, doctors, and communities became more adoption-literate

So Minnesota kept adopting because Minnesota had already adopted.

5. Cultural comfort with transracial adoption

By the 1960s–80s, Minnesota families were comparatively open to transracial adoption, especially through faith-based framing (“global family,” “Christian duty,” etc.). That wasn’t true everywhere in the U.S.

6. Result: one of the largest Korean adoptee populations in the world

By the 1980s–90s, Minnesota—especially the Twin Cities—had:

  • One of the highest per-capita Korean adoptee populations

  • Support groups, culture camps, adoptee organizations, and later adult-led activism

This made it even more attractive for placements and for adoptees to stay.

The important nuance

Many Korean adoptees have since spoken openly about:

  • Loss of language and culture

  • Racial isolation growing up

  • Complicated feelings about faith-based adoption systems

So while the why is rooted in infrastructure and goodwill, the impact has been deeply complex—and Minnesota has also become a center for adoptee-led scholarship, art, and advocacy because of that history.

If you want, I can go deeper into:

  • A specific decade (50s vs 70s vs 90s)

  • The role of Holt vs Lutheran agencies

  • Or how Minnesota compares to other states like Michigan or Wisconsin

Sure

Cool — which angle do you want to dig into first?

Pick one (or say “surprise me”):

  1. Decade-by-decade: how the story changes from the 1950s → 70s → 90s

  2. Agencies: Lutheran Social Service vs. Holt and how their philosophies differed

  3. Minnesota vs. other states (Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon): why MN really stood out

  4. Adoptee experience: what growing up in MN was like vs. places with fewer adoptees

One number and I’ll run with it.

All 4

Alright, let’s do the full tour. Buckle up—this story is layered, human, and a little messy in the way real history always is.

1) Decade by decade: how it unfolded

1950s–early 60s: Emergency + Cold War morality

  • After the Korean War, thousands of children were displaced—especially mixed-race children who were heavily stigmatized in Korea.

  • The U.S. framed adoption as humanitarian rescue and anti-communist virtue (“saving children from communism” was very much a thing).

  • Minnesota churches and agencies jumped in early. Once placements started, MN built expertise fast.

Key vibe of the era: “We’re doing the right thing, urgently.”

Late 60s–70s: Systematization

  • Adoption becomes less ad hoc and more bureaucratic.

  • Minnesota agencies are now very good at navigating Korean partnerships, visas, home studies, etc.

  • Families talk to other families → adoption becomes normalized in certain communities.

  • Many adoptees grow up in almost entirely white towns, often as the only Asian kid in school.

Key vibe: well-intentioned, confident, not very self-reflective.

1980s–90s: Scale + first cracks

  • Korean adoption peaks.

  • Minnesota now has thousands of Korean adoptees, many entering adolescence.

  • Adoptee culture camps, Korean language programs, and support groups appear—but mostly adult-led.

  • Adult adoptees begin asking harder questions about race, identity, and loss.

Key vibe: “Something feels off, but we don’t have the words yet.”

2000s–present: Adoptee voices take the mic

  • Adult Korean adoptees in MN become writers, scholars, artists, therapists, and organizers.

  • Critiques of transnational adoption systems go public.

  • Minnesota becomes a global hub of adoptee-led thought, precisely because so many adoptees grew up there.

Key vibe: reckoning + self-definition.

2) Agencies: Lutheran Social Service vs. Holt

Lutheran Social Service (LSS)

  • Deep roots in Minnesota.

  • Strong church networks = trust + funding + volunteers.

  • Emphasized placing children into “stable Christian families.”

  • Efficient, reputable, and influential locally.

Impact: LSS made Korean adoption feel normal and safe for Minnesota families.

Holt International

  • Founded by Harry and Bertha Holt.

  • More national and evangelical.

  • Very strong rescue narrative.

  • Sometimes bypassed local agencies early on, which later drew criticism.

Difference in philosophy:

  • Holt: mission-driven, urgency-first

  • LSS: institutional, community-embedded

Both contributed to large-scale adoption—but Minnesota’s density is more tied to LSS’s local dominance.

3) Why Minnesota more than other states?

Good comparison states are Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, and parts of Washington.

Minnesota stood out because it had all four at once:

  1. Early entry into Korean adoption

  2. One dominant, competent agency (LSS)

  3. Church density + social trust

  4. Positive feedback loop (people adopt because others already have)

Other states might have had 2–3 of these. Minnesota had all 4.

Think of it like tech hubs:

  • Silicon Valley didn’t just have engineers—it had engineers + money + culture + momentum.

  • Minnesota became the “Korean adoptee hub” the same way.

4) What it was like growing up there (according to adoptees)

This is where it gets personal—and complicated.

Upsides

  • You weren’t alone forever. Even if your town was white, the Twin Cities weren’t.

  • Adoptee camps and meetups meant you eventually met “people like you.”

  • As adults, many found community without having to move states.

Hard parts

  • Many grew up as racial outliers with parents unprepared to talk about race.

  • “Colorblind” culture was strong: “We don’t see race here” (spoiler: kids very much did).

  • Korean culture was often presented as:

    • food

    • holidays

    • costumes
      rather than language, history, or lived connection.

A lot of adoptees describe:

  • delayed identity crises (often in their 20s–40s)

  • complicated feelings about gratitude narratives

  • grief that didn’t have permission to exist growing up

The big irony

Minnesota helped create one of the largest diasporas of Korean adoptees in the world—and also became one of the first places where adoptees openly questioned whether the system should have worked that way at all.

That’s not a coincidence. Density creates safety, and safety creates honesty.”