I have actually known a few servicemembers over the years that have adopted Korean children, but all them had adopted infants.  This USFK family is looking to adopt an older boy, which is quite commendable considering how hard it is for orphanages to find parents for older children:

The Berdine family — from left to right in front, Jessica, Elizabeth, D.J. and, left to right in back, Dan and Danny — get together at the Town House food court at Yongsan Garrison, South Korea. The family is still in the process of adopting Danny. When completed, he will be the second son they’ve adopted from the Hwa Sung Babies Home, an orphanage in Seoul.

Like many expectant mothers, Elizabeth Berdine is eager to welcome the newest official member of her family. But she isn’t waiting to go into labor; she’s waiting for a judge’s permission.

When that permission comes, Danny will become the fourth child of Elizabeth and her husband, Lt. Col. Dan Berdine, and the second they’ve adopted from the Hwa Sung Babies’ Home in Seoul.

While the Berdines had to work around obstacles in both adoptions, they said the second time has been far more difficult due to changing laws and attitudes.

According to a 2008 New York Times article, South Korea changed its adoption laws in an effort to rid the country of a reputation as a market for foreign adoptions.

Since 1958, two-thirds of those adoptions have been to U.S. parents. The article said South Korea hopes to end foreign adoption altogether by 2012.

The government is trying to increase local adoptions by allowing single South Koreans to qualify, as well as older people up to age 60.

“South Korea is the world’s 12th largest economy and is now almost an advanced country, so we would like to rid ourselves of the international stigma or disgrace of being a baby-exporting country,” Kim Dong-won, who oversees adoptions at the Ministry of Health, was quoted as saying in the Times article. “It’s embarrassing.”

Many of the children living in Korean orphanages are not what Americans traditionally think of as orphans.

Hwa Sung Babies’ Home director Lee So-young said about 90 percent of the 50 children living in her orphanage have parents, but they’ve been abandoned for reasons ranging from financial difficulty to divorce.

Divorce, she said, is a very common reason to abandon children, because having children hampers the chance of finding a new spouse.

Although waning, there also is a cultural hurdle in local adoption, according to Lee.

“The perception that Koreans used to cling to — the perception of the bloodline’s importance — has been changing gradually, and they’re embracing other kids into their homes,” she said. “The government has been more heavily promoting domestic adoption these days.”  [Stars & Stripes]

This is a good article well worth reading in its entireity to learn a little bit more about modern day adoption in Korea.

To get a historical perspective between the US military and Korean orphans I highly recommend everyone read my posting on Hero of the Korean War, Lieutenant Colonel Russell Blaisdell.