Jae C. Hong

Photojournalist

BIOGRAPHY 

Jae C. Hong is a staff photojournalist at the Associated Press, based in Los Angeles. Hong has spent 18 years covering local and international news events. His assignments have included numerous Olympic Games, presidential elections, the Russia-Ukraine War, and stories from Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam. As a visual storyteller, he aims to help people gain a deeper understanding of the world through his work. 

Hong’s work has earned several awards throughout his career, including honors from POYi, NPPA, the Atlanta Journalism Seminar, and AP’s Gramling Award.

PHOTO: Korea Adoption Fraud

Nicole’s documents say she was adopted from a Korean orphanage in 1985, after being in the care of neighbors. Dae-chang says his family was torn apart following the failure of his business. When he tried to find Nicole, he learned a relative had given her away.

Some 200,000 Korean children have been adopted into the US since the 1950s. An investigation by Associated Press uncovered evidence of fraudulent documentation in many of these adoptions. Children like Nicole grew up searching for their roots, but discovered their life story is not what they thought.