Daughter tracks down mother after two decades, only to be abandoned again

(123rf)

The 31-year-old daughter of a Korean-Chinese woman, who was abandoned as a child, managed to track down her estranged mother last year, but lost contact once again after her mother cut ties.

According to a report by Yonhap News Agency on Sunday, the daughter, who was twice abandoned, is having trouble tracking down her mother due to a lack of documents proving their family relations. The mother, surnamed Kim, had forfeited her Korean citizenship but regained it in 2009, meaning previous records of her family relations were expunged.

The woman was abandoned by her mother when she was four years old. In middle school, she tried to track down her mother by applying for a certificate of family relations, which shows the registered address of one's family members. But the document did not help, as the mother was no longer a Korean citizen at the time.

Last year, the woman found an Instagram account that appeared to belong to her mother, based on the name, date of birth and the fact that many of the posts were in Chinese. She managed to track down her mother working at a department store in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and convinced Kim of their familial ties with childhood photos.

The tearful reunion did not last long, as Kim chose to cut her off.

The government keeps records of every citizen and their family relations, but it does not keep family records for people who are no longer Korean citizens. Kim's relinquishing of citizenship in the past resulted in her family records being expunged, meaning the relationship between Kim and her daughter could no longer be proven.

Applicants reapplying for citizenship can provide information about their family in the application, but it is not mandatory. In effect, Kim was able to erase any legal record of her family.

The woman suspected that Kim may have wanted to hide the existence of a daughter from a previous marriage by obtaining a new resident registration number.

She is now seeking to file a lawsuit to prove her relation to Kim through a DNA test and other methods.