Thursday, May 23, 2019

2019.05.23, The Korean Consulate

Today, I learned that the Korean Consulate in Los Angeles will take your DNA and send your information to Korea for free.  I learned this through the KAD Facebook group.

I e-mailed the consulate to set up an appointment at:
consul-la@mofa.go.kr

Apparently, you need to set up an appointment.  After you do that, you will need to drive up there, and get your DNA taken.  You should bring the following things with you:

  • Your ID
  • Adoption Info
  • Date you were adopted
  • Korean Name
  • Personal description (height, weight, etc...)
  • Name of your adoption agency
  • Where you came from and where you went to once in America

This is all very exciting, but like all things, I'll wait and see how it goes.  I initiated the process by sending an e-mail to the Korean consulate.

UPDATE: 5/24/2019, 9:00am - I got a response from them that I have to call them and schedule an appointment.  They didn't give me a phone number to call.  :-) . Looked on FB and found a phone number: 213-385-9300, ext 321.  Apparently, they only have appointments on Tuesday between 2:00 and 4:00pm.

UPDATE: 5/24/2019, 2:45pm - I finally got through to them.  It was kinda funny because the call went to a Korean voice-mail.  I waited and eventually got someone, I asked for someone who spoke English and then explained my situation.  They called me back, I set up an appointment and I'm ready to go.  Planning on taking a day off of work so i can drive up there and do it!

UPDATE: 6/11/2019 - I drove up to the Korean Consulate of LA today and provided some adoption information and a DNA sample.  They will send this to Korea in hopes of finding a match.
The drive up and back from San Diego was horrible, but the overall process was pretty painless and took less than 20 minutes.

UPDATE: 12/18/2019 - I received an e-mail indicating that no match was found.  :-(

From: 라성(총) <consul-la@mofa.go.kr>
To: "pellouch@yahoo.com" <pellouch@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2019, 04:39:40 PM PST
Subject: DNA TEST RESULT
Dear Philip

Thank you for your participation and interests in the DNA Collecting Testing at the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles.

The National Forensic Service has endeavored to search for a matching through the analysis of collected DNA through its database resources.

However, we are sorry to inform you that no match was discovered through the analysis. Please check the translation (attached file) below. 

Gene Analysis Report

Analysis factor

Search through “Missing Child, etc. Database” by DNA type analysis of the sample above.

Analysis Result

No parental relationship is found by the search through “Missing Child etc. Database” with the extracted DNA types Sample 1 – Sample 10. 

Your sample number is 4.

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Korean Consulate of Los Angeles
3243 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010
Tel: (213) 385-9300
http://overseas.mofa.go.kr/returnInfoPage.do