Korean Job Discussion Forums

robb9 · Joined: 13 Jul 2004

South Korean claims US skier is his son

Kim Jae-su says his son went missing during a shopping trip with his mother in Busan in 1981; says he didn��t tell the police because he preferred to search for the boy himself

Agencies

Seoul: A South Korean man has claimed he is the natural father of US skier Toby Dawson, who won a bronze in the Winter Olympics last week, media reports said.

Dawson, 27, was adopted by US parents in 1982, from an orphanage in Seoul who did not know who his parents were.

Kim Jae-su, 52, said his lost son went missing during a shopping trip with his mother near a market in the South Korean city of Busan, in 1981.

Dawson was found near the same market, South Korean��s Yonhap news agency said.

Kim Jae-su said Dawson looked very like his lost son.

He said he made the connection after friends and relatives called him, saying Dawson looked just like him.

��So I looked at the papers and confirmed it myself,�� Mr Kim told the newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

��There is no doubt that this is the son I lost 25 years ago.��

No records Mr Kim said he never reported the fact his son was missing to police, because he did not think it would help, instead looking for the child himself.
Deborah and Mike Dawson, ski instructors from Colorado, were told the three-year-old had been abandoned.

Deborah Dawson has told the US broadcaster NBC that the child was very traumatised when he first arrived from South Korea.

Toby Dawson said his childhood shyness ultimately helped his skiing.

��I was definitely more aggressive in that area of my life because I was so shy otherwise,�� NBC quoted him as saying.

Dawson won bronze in the men��s mogul competition at the Olympics in Turin.

He has recently said he is searching for his biological parents. Kim Jae-su said he was willing to take a DNA test to prove his paternity.

• Kim said he made the connection after friends and relatives called him saying Dawson looked just like him

Swiss James · Joined: 26 Nov 2003 Location: Shanghai

a more cynical person might suggest they gave him up for adoption for some kind of financial gain.

Still though, I hope they are his real parents- what a way to find your long-lost son!

Xerxes · Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 4:22 am Post subject:

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

The cops here can be pretty keystone. Remember that serial killer who was killing Korean prostitutes? The cops made a big thing about his arrest but then it turned out the pimps had to band together and catch the guy themselves. The pimps did the detective work, the pimps cornered him, and the only thing the cops did was actually pick up a 119 call and show up at the right hotel room and arrest him. That they managed to show up at all and find the right hotel room, I guess they should be given credit for that.

And it didn't surprise me at all some ajussi lost his kid. Guy probably got hammered on soju, let the 3 year old wander off, and that was that.

itaewonguy · Joined: 25 Mar 2003

its all over the news now! it probably is his son! no reason for the guy to come forward now! but it is alittle suspect that he didnt go to the police!
and how the hell can they adopt out a person with out any records of him?
the person who found the boy why didnt he report it to the police?
the police could have put up posters around the market where he was found? seems like the father didnt want to be found??
then went through regret years later, and now that its came to his attention he is curious..
if you ask me! as a parent!! I would NEVER stop looking!! NEVER!!
something is rotten in denmark!!

you watch those shows on cable where they are reuniting adoptees with their biological parents on TV and the mothers start crying saying sorry sorry! I was so poor! I couldnt afford to keep you etc,.I should have tried to find you first blar blar..
I know how those people must feel, most of them must feel empty inside
you know somewhere out there is your child! and mixed emotions running through your head, you dont want burden him/her now , etc..

but if my 4 year son went missing, my ONLY motivation in life is to find my son, dead or alive! I would never stop! 24/7 365 days I never close!
wouldnt be hard to do either! track down every orphanage in the country 4 years old. boy im sure the record of 4 year olds leaving korea for abroad where slim! thats a place to start!
seems like the father had a different agender..

Bulsajo · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

The Cube · Joined: 01 Feb 2003

VanIslander · Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 12:26 pm Post subject:

(a) there are alot of abandoned kids in Korea

(b) many Koreans don't trust authorities (police, politicians) for very good historical reasons (I've had several interesting conversations with adult students and Korean friends about it - definitely not any Japanese-like obedience to the rule of law or authority in Korea!)

so, given a and b,... I don't know what to think, about this given case.

kuddos to the family and the skier if they believe the boy had been "lost" (better for them), whether true or not

Bulsajo · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

Abandoned or lost, for Toby I'm sure the differences between those are not nearly as great as the difference between knowing and not knowing.

Imbroglio · Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 1:00 pm Post subject:

My parents always used to tell me they picked me up from the police station. *sigh*

Hollywoodaction · Joined: 02 Jul 2004

This has already been discussed in an other thread, by the way.

Leslie Cheswyck · Joined: 31 May 2003 Location: University of Western Chile

gypsyfish · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

I don't trust the cops to do their jobs here either, but, if my child were missing, I would still check with them. Any reasonable person would, unless there was a reason that you had to stay away from the police.

The guy abandoned Dawson and wants to get in on the gravy train now.

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

gypsyfish is right. The kid was abandoned, not lost. He was found with a note giving his age and first name.

This guy might be the father, but if so, he's just looking to cash in.

Xerxes · Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 12:12 am Post subject:

Money has something to do with his wanting to find Dawson, but as a parent, I would think that I would want contact whatever the situation. Giving up a child or abandoned cannot have been easy on the conscience for anyone from that moment on.

I say, give the man the benefit of the doubt. I would be surprised that Dawson made enough money from the medal to support this man's money desires (although he could get lucky with some good publicity). Even if the man did abandon the child, wouldn't any normal person have a ghost in the closet over such a heinous past "sin"?

Just my two cents Very Happy