JX member Kim Jae-joong hopes for 'warm families' in video of Adoption Day ceremony speech
The singer, who was adopted at 3 years old, said he was happy to be part of something so significant and conveyed his wish that more children find good homes.
Singer Kim Jae-joong speaks at a ceremony celebrating Adoption Day in May in central Seoul.SCREEN CAPTURE
Singer Kim Jae-joong, a member of JX and a former member of TVXQ who was adopted as a child, spread the message of hope for both children in search of a family and families waiting for a new child, in a video posted on Saturday of a speech he gave during a ceremony marking Adoption Day in May.
"This is a genuinely meaningful event for me," he said in the video. The ceremony took place on May 9 at the Dragon City Hotel in Yongsan District, central Seoul.
"I told the public about my family history very late, so being able to come to something like this openly is a relief in a way, and I am so glad to take part in something good."
Taking the stage to deliver a congratulatory address, he turned to the families in the room.
"I hope this event becomes an occasion to think once more about what family means," Kim said. "I hope many more children meet warm families from now on."
Singer Kim Jae-joong attends a ceremony marking Adoption Day in May.SCREEN CAPTURE
"I sincerely hope more families get to meet a new beginning. I hope today leaves all of you with warmth you remember for a long time," he added.
Kim was adopted into a large family as the youngest child with eight older sisters, something he disclosed on the MBC variety show "Radio Star" in 2024. His adoptive mother, Yu Man-sun, later appeared alongside him on KBS1's morning talk show and described how he came to the family.
Yu said she has never forgotten the day she met him.
"A relative brought him over and said, 'This child has had a hard time of it, why don't you take him in'," she said on the program. "I turned him down at first. I already had too many children."
Then she picked him up and saw his bright, loving eyes.
"He curled into my arms and called me 'mom, mom,'" she said. "Right then, I thought, 'From now on I'm raising you as my son.'"
Singer Kim Jae-joong and his mom talk about his adoption in a KBS morning talk show in 2024.SCREEN CAPTURE
With eight daughters in the house already, one more child changed almost nothing, according to Yu.
"With that many children, I thought I only had to set out one more spoon and serve one more bowl of rice," she said. "I told myself that even if I could not raise him well, we would just live the one life we get."
Yu wept as she said he had grown up well and become a devoted son, and that there could be no son more devoted.
"Thank you," Kim said. "Whatever the reasons, I think raising me in good health was everything."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
