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SUSANNE BRINK PASSED AWAY

A sad day for Korean Adoption History and a loss for Civil Rights Movement regarding Korean Adoption. On 23 January 2009, the Swedish adopted Korean and member of AKF Susanne Brink passed away at the age of 45.

Susanne’s significance for the adopted Korean community and for all adoptees in general has been substantial to say the least. In 1991, her life as an adopted Korean of Sweden was turned into a Korean feature film: Susanne Brink’s Arirang and through the film, the Korean adoption issue, the issue of international adoption from Korea and the overseas adopted Koreans, was practically born among the wider population of Korea.

Susanne also did mission work and support work among adoptees, and her relations and friendships with numerous adoptees both inside and outside Sweden, in the US, in Korea, and in other Scandinavian and European countries, will always be remembered. Susanne also took part in many documentaries and news reports in Sweden and in Korea as a public spokesman for the rights of adoptees and for telling about the trials and tribulations of being an adult transracial and transnational adoptee in the West.

An international dispute was raised since her article; “Stop sending babies abroad” was published internationally. The article and the movie created a breach in the myth of Korean Adoption. We owe Susanne for her bravery and persistence. With each step we set, we will remember her work, suffering and herewith we promise, that the tears she shed, will not gone in emptiness. Each one echoes the silenced voice of many. That her soul may rest with her ancestors in the land of the morning calm.

Susanne will be buried on March 6 in her Swedish hometown of Norrköping, and through a last letter, she invites all adopted Koreans to the ceremony (at 10 AM in Östra Eneby kyrka, Taborsbergsvägen 29, Norrköping).

Please contact Eleonora Brink, Susanne’s daughter, if you want to attend the burial ceremony: brink@triton-partners.com