A personal assistant to two members and former ministers of the Danish Parliament, Folketinget, Louise is photographed with a pair of yellow infant shoes that were among her sole possessions when she arrived in Denmark at sixteen months of age.
To be or not to be… a Dane (or Korean). When I was a child (and teenager), I refused to talk about my biological background. My adoptive parents gave me books about Korea, but I would not even look in them. Why should I? I was not at all different. That was how I was thinking at that time. I did not want to talk about my adoption – I lived in Denmark, so why talk about my few years in Korea? I felt Danish, I behaved Danish. I really felt like a Dane. But every time I walked past a mirror, I realized that I did not look like a Dane. I felt blonde and I felt that I had blue eyes. But every time I looked into that mirror, my reflection showed otherwise. I looked like a Korean. In time, I have learned to accept myself as I am. 9 years ago I became a mother, and I started thinking more about my biological origins. My daughter looks like me and we think alike. But who do I look like? I hope that one day, I will be able to travel back to Korea. Not necessarily to find my biological family, but to find out more about the country in which I was born.”
Louise was found in the streets in Korea before an orphanage took her in.