"I Want My Son Back"

"It is just nonsense that I cannot even meet my son, let alone living together."

An ethnic Korean in her 40s from China is waging an uphill battle with the Justice Ministry in order to obtain admission for her son to come to Korea.

The Korean Chinese identified only as Chang got married to a Korean bachelor identified as Park, 43 and became naturalized in 1998.

It was her second marriage.

Chang, who had got accustomed to her new life in Korea, was feeling so sad because her two sons from the first marriage with a Chinese man stayed in China. Her two sons have been abused by their father. Having sympathized with his wife`s pain, Park adopted her two sons.

After adopting her two Chinese sons, Chang wrote a letter to the Justice Minister for a permission of their entry into Korea. But the Justice Ministry replied that her eldest son is an adult and can lead an independent life, and her second son does not need to be adopted because he is living in China with his own father."

Chang filed a complaint late last year demanding that the disapproval of her sons` entry be withdrew. But Seoul Administrative Court dismissed the case saying that she did not take a formal step. The court said that she did not apply for certificate for a visa issuance, which is necessary for the entry of those invited.

Chang then applied for the certificate, but the Justice Ministry repeated to say that her eldest son, who is over 20, could not be approved for entry.

Chang managed to bring her second son to Korea, but she did not give up.

She appealed to Seoul Supreme Court earlier this month, saying, "I cannot live well here with my eldest son in China alone."

Since she cannot afford to lawyer, she makes required document for the lawsuit and goes to the court on her own while working at a restaurant. She heaved a sigh, saying, "Whenever I receive a letter from my eldest son that he misses me, I feel so frustrated."

But an official of the Justice Ministry said, "In so many cases, ethnic Koreans from China use marriage and adoption as a means to enter and illegally stay here in Korea. So tough regulations is inevitable."

Experts say that the regulation came from administrative opportunism and results in discrimination against a certain people. Bae Geum-ja, a lawyer, said that there is no country in the world except Korea that disapproves the entry of one`s children just because they are too old. She added, "It can be criticized as the violation of human rights to ban her to meet her family just because she is Chinese rather than examining whether it is a fake adoption or not afterwards.

Jung-Eun Lee lightee@donga.com