Meeting Once More: The Korean Side of Transnational Adoption

7. Meetings’ Aftermaths

118 > 119 families had only sparse, if any, contact with each other, even though they all lived in South Korea.1 In the case of those whose relationships endured, nobody knows for how long. There is an obvious contradiction between the collective passions these quests engender and the general indifference regarding the outcomes. One wonders what happens after Ach’im madang broadcasts and what the participants do after their initial meeting. One also wonders which conditions promote lasting relations and which are likely to result in only temporary relations. Viewers can get a glimpse of the meetings’ aftermaths through the flashbacks that are usually played during a subsequent broadcast. But direct observation of reunited families over a longer period can help to establish the typical situations that the adoptee participant might encounter while acknowledging less predictable parameters such as individuals’ temperaments and life choices. Happy Endings on Ach’im madang The flashbacks on Ach’im madang were typically composed of selected sequences and were intended to share the more intimate moments of the family reunions with curious spectators. In some cases, the first meeting did not occur on a Wednesday in the studio but in another place, depending on the participants’ availability. The flashback technique had to convey the same emotion as the live meeting onstage. These slices of postreunion life are of interest less for what actually takes place during them and more for their symbolic value. Through them, Ach’im madang dictates to a certain extent proper attitudes and emotions offstage as well as onstage. For this reason, happy endings, which seem to prove the program’s legitimacy, are emphasized . Yet no one knows what happens after the “ending.” These flashback sequences are constructed and systematically interpreted by the production team through careful selection of necessary moments, partial subtitling of dialogue, the normative comments by the hosts, and a focus on optimistic declarations. The necessary moments are the tearful requests for forgiveness, the happy banquet, the solemn visit to family tombs, and two forms of the happy ending—either the peaceful separation or the optimistic promise of long-lasting relations. Again, these edited suites of moments turn the family meetings into narratives of family reconstruction, a kind of literary fiction to which the hosts and the professor contribute. From what I have seen and based on the program’s ratings, Korean viewers clearly find satisfaction in the story line that starts with separations and ends happily, but one may wonder if that is the case for the participants in real life. 120 > 121 by means of a family picture framed in the entrance hall. He had four sons, all of them successful. He added that the youngest one, over thirty, was not yet married and had emigrated to Los Angeles. The mother’s sister’s husband liked talking about his trips, especially his tour in the United States. Magnets of each visited place were displayed on the refrigerator. Two young grandchildren were playing in the next room. They were called in to greet the “visitors ,” and the mother’s sister’s husband introduced Mark as his “friend.” “It is not worth telling them about the situation,” he declared. I translated, and Mark nodded with goodwill. The mother lived there, and we would go to her room after dinner. Dinner was marked by long silent moments, and the conversation was mostly insignificant. Mark was asked what he planned to do while in Korea. He said he was going to stay for a month so that he could go to Sorak Mountain National Park. At once, the mother’s sister’s husband declared he would take some days off to go with him. He added that he would pay for Mark’s trip. Because he liked traveling alone, Mark was annoyed but did not dare refuse the offer. The mother asked Mark if he wanted to see her room. They left the table, and at their request I followed them. She lived in the basement. Her job was to make sandwiches for her sister’s eldest son’s company, which was based in the rich neighborhood of Kangnam. She started praising her sister’s husband for all he had done for her for so long. She made him sound like a saint. After Mark left Korea, she had married an old man who was now deeply in debt. They lived separately, and their son was staying with his...