A father in Washington state is pleading with South Korean authorities for the return of his young son. The non-custodial mother is wanted in the United States for allegedly kidnapping a child overseas and returning her son in violation of court orders in both countries.
Brian Song, now seven years old, was just three years old when his mother, Min Jeong Cho, 42, allegedly spirited him away to his native South Korea in June 2019.
Brian's father, Dr. Jay Sun (43), said that although Brian won his legal battles in the United States and abroad, he remains estranged from his son and has not seen him for more than half of his life. Ta.
“South Korea did nothing to protect it.” [Bryan]” the orthodontist told FOX News Digital. “They should send American citizens back to their homes, where the laws should be enforced and protected.”
Son was initially granted full custody, but the judge overseeing the divorce allowed each parent to take Brian to South Korea for up to three weeks a year.
Cho took Brian to South Korea, and on the final day of the planned trip, her lawyer contacted Song and told her the boy would not be returned to the United States, the sources said.
Song was unable to confirm her son's actual whereabouts at the time, but filed a missing person report in Redmond, Washington.
South Korean police eventually located Brian at his maternal grandmother's home, but Song said he was told the case would have to be resolved in civil court.
Although Mr. Song was born in South Korea, he spent much of his childhood in Ohio.
He served in the Korean Army and returned to the United States to study dentistry at UCLA. He is currently an orthodontist in Washington, D.C., and he and his son are U.S. citizens.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
That was not the case and Cho's permanent residence status was revoked because he did not return home for more than a year, Song said.
The Washington state warrant for Cho's arrest has been in effect since April 20, 2020, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
He said Son filed a petition in 2019 under the Hague Convention governing international child abduction, trafficking and adoption.
In a process that lasted several years, the court ruled in Cho's favor, and he subsequently exhausted his appeals. But she refused to hand over her boy, her father said.
Bringback Brian / Facebook
South Korean courts have repeatedly sided with Song, who said the country's laws have compliance loopholes that prevent law enforcement from seizing children by force.
Currently, Son is the only legal guardian recognized by both countries, but says he is powerless as South Korean authorities refuse to enforce a court request to return the child to his father.
They arrested Cho twice and fined her, but did not return her son, he said.
Son launched a social media campaign to demand further action from the South Korean government for the return of her son, holding a one-man protest in front of the South Korean consulate in Seattle.
Mr. Song's plight has drawn support from local Congressman Kim Schrier, as well as the State Department and FBI.
In recent years, the State Department has rebuked South Korea A “pattern of non-compliance” under the Convention by national law enforcement enforcement of court-ordered returns.
“in particular, [Republic of Korea] “Law enforcement officials routinely failed to enforce return orders in kidnapping cases,” the State Department’s 2023 Action Report on International Child Abduction states. “As a result of this failure, 50% of requests for the return of abducted children under the Convention remain unresolved for more than 12 months.”
But a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that while South Korea is cooperating with Bryan's case, American diplomats have raised questions with South Korea over the lengthy repatriation process. .
“Regarding Dr. Song's case and other similar cases, we have raised this issue multiple times with South Korean officials in Washington and Seoul, and we are concerned about the country's lengthy judicial process and lack of implementation of the Hague Abduction Convention. “We have expressed this order,'' the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the FBI's Seattle office said the agency had filed a lawsuit under the 1932 Lindbergh Act (also known as the federal kidnapping law) after the kidnapping of famous aviator Charles Lindbergh's then-2-year-old son. He said he was given jurisdiction over the child abduction case. .
Bringback Brian / Facebook
“Child abduction cases can be time-consuming and require coordination with other law enforcement agencies and law firms within and outside the United States, further facilitating the FBI's mission abroad,” she said. said.
According to a State Department action report, the average time it takes to resolve child abduction cases in South Korea is just under three years.
If Brian doesn't return by April, he will be missing for five years.
Even South Korean parliamentarians held public hearings on the issue, determined that South Korea's system was flawed, and began drafting reforms, Song said.
Bringback Brian / Facebook
South Korean authorities did not respond to requests for comment.
The incident is reminiscent of a 2000 operation to return Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez to his father, but Son said South Korean police had to send a SWAT team to rescue his son. refuted the idea that there is.
“If it's really, really necessary and that's the only way to get the child back, I'm not opposed to it,” he told FOX News Digital. “But at the same time, using 'force' on a child doesn't necessarily mean doing it in a very traumatic way. Sometimes force is necessary. If a child doesn't want to go to school, , you may have to force your child into the car.”
