S. Korean Adoption Agency Saw No Problem With American Parents
S. Korean Adoption Agency Saw No Problem With American Parents
SEOUL, March 27 (Bernama) -- A South Korean adoption agency said Thursday that it had seen no signs of any problem with the American couple who adopted the four Korean children found dead this week, calling the deaths of the entire family "unimaginable", Yonhap news agency reported.
"We are shocked and dismayed. I can't find words to describe it," Hong Mee-kyung, a director of overseas adoption at Holt Children's Services Inc. in Seoul, said.
"Considering the personalities and the attitudes they have shown, it's unimaginable," Hong said.
The United States police found the children and their adoptive mother, Sheryl Sueppel, 42, dead Monday morning (U.S. time) at their home in Iowa. Police believe their father, Steven Sueppel, 42, killed his wife and the children before taking his own life. His car was found destroyed in a single-vehicle crash, in which the driver died, according to local reports.The driver could not be immediately identified because of the fire, they said.
Local reports linked the murder-suicide to Sueppel's financial woes. He was charged last month with embezzling nearly US$560,000 from his former employer, Hills Bank and Trust, and with money laundering.
The children's birth mothers will not be notified unless they ask. They were all young, single mothers at the time of the children's births, the agency said.
"After their children are adopted, they usually make a fresh start and our agency doesn't reach out first. Only if they contact us, we will inform them what happened," Hong said, adding that no phone calls were received so far.
The children -- Ethan, 10, Seth, 7, Mira, 5, and Eleanor, 3 -- were adopted by the Sueppels in 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2005, respectively, Holt officials said. After adopting Ethan, the couple decided to adopt his siblings from Korea, rather than other countries, they said.
The Holt service, named after Harry and Bertha Holt who adopted eight Korean children in the aftermath of the Korean War, said the American couple were well qualified to adopt foreign children in terms of their finances and relationship. The father was a banker and the mother an elementary school teacher, and they went to church. The agency sent the children through its U.S. partner, Hold International Children's Services.
"The Holt International's after-adoption reports show the couple had no problem, they were raising children well. The mother even sent us pictures of the children, from which we thought they are considerate people," Hong said.
The grisly news renewed local criticism of South Korea's high rate of overseas adoption. Government figures show that there have been about 87,500 domestic adoptions versus 158,000 international adoptions since the Korean War ended in 1953. Thanks to government campaigns to boost domestic adoption, the number of children adopted by Koreans surpassed those sent overseas for the first time last year, by 1,388 to 1,264.
The Holt agency, the biggest among the four Korean adoption agencies, sent 458 children abroad and had 466 children domestically adopted.
Shock and dismay swept the Internet news sites, many criticising the continuing export of children by the world's 13th largest economy.
-- BERNAMA