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| Activists protest in the lobby of the Incheon International Airport on Aug. 14 calling for Korean men who engage in sexual tourism to be prosecuted. The signs read "Stop sexual tourism" and "Prosecute men who pay for sex abroad." / Courtesy of Tacteennaeil |
By Kim Se-jeong
Tacteennaeil, a Seoul-based rights group, has been helping fatherless "Kopinos," children born to Korean fathers and Filipina mothers.
Since 2005, the NGO has been assisting the Kopinos, most of whom live in the Philippines, with financial support and assistance in finding their fathers. The group has also been waging an awareness campaign in Korea about irresponsible Korean men who travel abroad for sex and take no responsibility for the resulting offspring.
In June, the Seoul Family Court ruled in favor of two boys from the Philippines who filed a lawsuit against their Korean father, demanding they be acknowledged as his children.
"This ruling was a wake-up call for many Korean men who become fathers while staying in the Philippines for sex, business or study," Lee Young-hee, director of Tacteennaeil, said. "They usually come back home without any sense of responsibility for the children and the family."
She said she had noticed greater support for the Kopinos since the ruling. The group staged five public protests, including one at the Incheon International Airport earlier this month.
No one knows exactly how many Kopinos there are because getting official statistics is next to impossible, said Lee. But Koreans are the No. 1 visitors in the Philippines.
Often the mothers are very young, and the children live in poverty.
Local culture in the Philippines is a contributing factor, the director explains.
Because it is a Roman Catholic country, young girls who become pregnant often keep their babies. The high rates of poverty mean a large number of women and girls sell sex to survive.
Lee says two things must be done to curb the number of fatherless Kopinos.
One is to bring the irresponsible men to justice. Raising awareness is another. The director says proper education for men, especially businessmen who are about to move to the Philippines, is very important.
"One thing we could do is to give a small workshop about abandoned Kopinos to departing businessmen," Lee said.
Founded in 1995, the NGO has been working to protect rights of chidren who sexually abused. It opened a center for sex education in 1995, the first of its kind in Korea.
Advocacy work for Kopinos started in 2005 when it established partnerships with another international NGO ― END Child Prostitution, Child Pornography & Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes.
"We'll continue to build awareness about the Kopinos among the Korean public," Lee said.
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