Korean ICA—Internment Camps
of Abduction
Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.
—Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC
For over half a century we have called ICA
Inter-Country Adoption
international adoption
transnational adoption
a humanitarian gesture
love in action
building happy families
saving children
giving them a better life
Now we must call it what it is
this is a holocaust of children
this is a colonization of a people by their own
this is legalized child trafficking
this is cultural genocide
this is a violation of human rights
this is a war on bodies
this is a war crime
this is ICA
Internment Camps of Abduction
Korea, once occupied
now conducting your own occupation
you are occupying the lives
of two hundred thousand of your own
#10 OECD ranking
equals economic development and prosperity
postwar recovery
on the backs of your children
politicians sit
on their National Ass
profiting from yellow babies
bought and sold
on the open market
to the tune of
fifty million
US dollars in annual sales and profits
and when we return
you offer us
$200 in reparations
Mercedes, Lexus, BMWs
line Apgujeong Road
while boys and girls of all ages
line the walls of agencies
their destinations unknown
they wait for their numbers to be called
their prices to be named
their shipping dates to be set
your luxury cars cost more
than our $30,000 price tag
more precious to you
than these lives soon to be lost
you seethe with anger
at the sight
of a hairline scratch
on your 650i coupe
quietly breathe
a sigh of relief
as each shameful child leaves
this land
you dare to call a nation
This nation
this peninsula
is divided between north and south
No, this peninsula
is divided between east and west
every day
six
more
Korean families are divided
their babies abducted from them
sent to the internment camps
never to be seen again
Northwest Airlines? NWA?
NWA means Not Without Asians
Northwest refuses to leave Korea
without six Korean infant cargo
stashed away as commodity every day
their bankrupt business won’t survive
without this international trade
University students sit stunned
as they learn the truth
of their national shame and guilt
yet remain divided
when asked to take a stand
it is no wonder
as we
have been deleted from history books
as you hope to erase generation
after generation
after generation of your unwanted people
You hoped
we would never return
you thought
you could hide the truth
but you can’t hide us any longer
We are the history makers!
you are ashamed
that we have returned
and have marked our territory
yet you claim it as your rightful legacy
to celebrate an Olympic skier
you have taken one of our children
used him as your poster child
you’ve brainwashed and drafted us
to participate in your human trafficking
because it is legal you can do this with a sinful smirk
ROK—Republic of Korea? The ROK?
No! ROK means Rid of Koreans
rid of the unwanted people
who you refuse to claim as your own
children born to mothers
but not to fathers
Sent to the internment camps
you made us leave everything behind
our names
our language
our families
our heritage
Reclaiming our lives
you do everything possible
to make it impossible
for us to ever take back
what you
have stolen
from us
Japan stole your Korean names
now you
have done the same
and worse
to us
history does repeat itself
If these words are too angry
too militant for you
if they cause you discomfort
and you squirm in your seat
then I say
they are not angry enough
they are not militant enough
until you cannot sleep at night
and will take a stand
against
this
injustice!